Russia imported a record 172,000 tonnes of oil products in August, and 70 percent came from India. Here is why Moscow is buying back fuel refined from its own crude.The cause: Ukrainian drone strikes have hammered Russian refineries for months, cutting domestic fuel output and causing shortages and long queues. Moscow has banned fuel exports and turned to imports.The route: All the gasoline from India was loaded at the Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, run by Nayara Energy, in which Russia’s Rosneft owns 49.13 percent.

Vadinar sourced all its crude from Russia this year.The numbers: India shipped 120,000 tonnes of gasoline worth 78 million euros in August, per the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. That was seven times the previous monthly record.The catch: “Russia is paying a refinery that it partly owns to process its own crude into fuel it can no longer produce domestically,” CREA said. Sanctioned tankers and ship-to-ship transfers feature in the trade.