Russia is sending cargoes of sanctioned oil to India on tankers that have been blacklisted by the US Treasury — setting up an acid test of Moscow's ability to get around aggressive measures imposed by Washington earlier this month.

New U.S. sanctions on Russian oil exports have caused tanker rates to surge and trade to freeze as shippers scramble for non-sanctioned vessels.

Freight rates for Russian ESPO Blend oil loading from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino have jumped fivefold amid a lack of vessels after fresh U.S. sanctions cut availability of tankers, three traders said and data showed.

Trade for March-loading Russian oil in top buyer Asia has stalled as a wide price gap between buyers and sellers emerged in China after costs for chartering tankers unaffected by U.S. sanctions jumped,

Despite the latest round of sanctions by the US Treasury, Russia has managed to keep its four-week rolling average oil shipments fairly steady over the seven-day period to January 26

Six Russian oil tankers still under construction by Russia's Zvezda shipyard were included in U.S. sanctions imposed last week, the first time Washington is known to have banned tankers before they even set sail,

Russia has continued to send cargoes of crude oil to India on tankers that have been sanctioned by the US, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. This situation presents a crucial test of Moscow’s ability to circumvent the stringent sanctions implemented by Washington earlier this month.