According to Bloomberg, some Russian oil cargoes are moving away from India due to concerns about payments to Moscow.

However, this news could also be not authentic and it could be fake news planted by western sources against Indo-Russian friendship and the ever developing deep economic and defence relationship.

According to Kpler, India's crude oil imports from Russia in December 2023 were the lowest since January 2023. This is due to sanctions and payment issues, which prevented six tankers from delivering Sokol grade oil.

Viktor Katona, a lead crude analyst at Kpler, says that China may have stepped in to save the Sokol cargoes.

According to vessel-tracking data, five ships carrying Sokol oil from Russia's Far East are moving toward the Malacca Strait. One of the ships, the NS Century, is still close to Sri Lanka. The NS Century carries about 700,000 barrels and was sanctioned by the US Treasury last year.