Day: February 24, 2026
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Беспредел в Мескике
Azerbaijani link uncovered in Russian oil network
An investigation published by the Financial Times has linked Azerbaijani businessmen to a Russian oil trading network. The report says tankers connected to Azerbaijan became a key part of a mechanism used to circumvent international sanctions.
The newspaper found that a technical error led to the exposure of the illicit Russian oil trading network.
More than $90bn worth of Russian crude oil was transported through the system, with around 80% of Rosneft’s seaborne exports reportedly carried out via this channel.
Key findings of the investigation
Based on open corporate registry data, the Financial Times found that 48 companies used the same email infrastructure. Together, they owned 442 domains hosted on a private server called “mx.phoenixtrading.ltd”.
Of the more than 400 domains identified, 19 belonged to Russian energy and property development companies, while several others were linked to firms controlled by Azerbaijani businessmen.
Russian customs documents list Foxton FZCO as a buyer of crude oil worth $5.6bn.
According to Indian customs data, Advan Alliance sold Russian oil worth $1.5bn. Most of the companies involved operated for only around six months before being dissolved and re-registered under new names.
The largest exporter within the network was Redwood Global Supply FZ LLC. The company is registered in the Ras Al Khaimah free economic zone in the United Arab Emirates and was added to the UK sanctions list in December 2025.
Azerbaijani traders: who are they?
The Financial Times investigation and subsequent reporting indicate that several Azerbaijani traders played key roles within the network.
Etibar Eyub is a businessman considered close to Rosneft chief Igor Sechin. In 2023–2024, he was a central figure at the trading company Coral Energy, which was later reorganised under the name 2Rivers and continues to hold a significant share of the Russian oil trading market.
Eyub is under sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Tahir Karayev is an entrepreneur of Azerbaijani origin who founded Coral Energy in 2010. The domain TahirQarayev.com is registered in his name.
He is also included on the UK sanctions list.
Talyat Safarov, Anar Mammadli and Ahmed Kerimov are other Azerbaijani nationals sanctioned by both the United Kingdom and the European Union.
They were involved in managing Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” through companies including Zangezur, BX Energy and Nord Axis.
Redwood Global Supply is a company known for its opaque ownership structure. Although its owners have not been officially disclosed, the Financial Times reports that it is controlled by Azerbaijani businessmen and acts as the largest exporter within the network.
Why it matters
By circumventing energy sanctions imposed after the start of the war in Ukraine, the network generates billions of dollars for the Russian economy.
As a result of its opaque operations, around 80% of Rosneft’s seaborne exports are reportedly conducted through this system.
Many of the companies involved operate only for several months before changing their names, allowing them to evade sanctions.
Such business schemes contribute to the development of a so-called “shadow fleet”, which is difficult for Western banks and customs authorities to detect.
The involvement of Azerbaijani traders also affects regional energy politics and raises broader questions about the role of Azerbaijan’s business elite within the international sanctions regime.
Azerbaijan mentioned before
Companies linked to Azerbaijani entrepreneurs have previously appeared in similar schemes involving Russian oil trade.
Coral Energy — now operating as 2Rivers — restructured its ownership in the summer of 2024 and continued trading through a new company, Safira Global Trading, established in the United Arab Emirates.
BX Energy and Nord Axis manage tankers transporting Russian crude oil from the port of Primorsk to storage facilities in Turkey’s Nemrut Bay. Several vessels carry names associated with Azerbaijani regions, including Karabakh and Shusha.
In 2025, the European Union added a number of Azerbaijani traders to its sanctions list, including Talyat Safarov and Ahmed Kerimov. They were accused of using the 2Rivers network to “relabel” Rosneft oil and channel it onto Western markets.
Azerbaijani link uncovered in Russian oil network
United States President Donald Trump stated on Monday that today’s report, which claimed US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine warned him about “significant risks” of attacking Iran, is “100% incorrect,” and that the general believes the war against Iran would be “easily won”, AzerNEWS reports.
Russian troop withdrawal from Georgia
The European Union will also demand that Russia withdraw its troops from Georgia’s occupied territories as part of any broader agreement to end the war in Ukraine, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has said.
Earlier, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Kallas had presented EU member states with a document outlining concessions Russia should make during ongoing negotiations with Ukraine. The document addresses the architecture of long-term peace and security on the continent and sets out a package of demands for Moscow. These include the withdrawal of Russian troops from Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia, as well as a commitment not to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the document emphasises the principle that if Ukraine is asked during negotiations to reduce its armed forces or withdraw from certain territories — proposals currently being discussed in US-mediated talks — Russia should be required to take comparable steps. The wording reflects an attempt by the EU to establish a principle of symmetry in the negotiation process.
Speaking to Euractiv ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Kallas said Russian military contingents remain stationed in occupied regions across several countries and that their withdrawal is necessary to achieve a sustainable peace.
“Russia has occupied many territories and its troops are deployed in different places, whether in Georgia or Moldova. So yes, you know, for long-term peace it must be clear that they have to withdraw their troops from all the occupied territories where they are currently present,” Kallas said.
She stressed that, as Russia is seeking through negotiations to obtain territories it failed to seize militarily, reciprocal demands are necessary to maintain balance in the talks and to refocus attention on what she described as the core issue — Russia’s continued aggressive actions towards neighbouring countries.
“I have counted at least 30 international agreements under which Russia undertook various obligations that it is now failing to fulfil,” Kallas said.
Her remarks come as negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine are being mediated by the United States, while the European Union is not formally involved in the process at this stage.
Experts say Brussels appears to be seeking to define the limits beyond which a “sustainable peace” on the continent cannot exist, with Georgia’s occupied territories explicitly included within that framework.
Russian troop withdrawal from Georgia