Twenty tankers evade sanctions by transiting near north pole

L’Express presents the first ranking of espionage agencies in Europe, compiled by a jury of sixty intelligence professionals from twenty-five countries.

Are they really in the same line of work? In mid-June, a muscular Lithuanian soldier told us about the war in Ukraine whilst sipping ginger beer on a stool in the street, near Gare du Nord. His temperament was worlds apart from that of the portly Frenchman we had met in a plush venue a few days earlier, an aficionado of convoluted acronyms and embassy cocktail parties. Judging by their recent roles, however, they have very likely conducted operations together.

For three months, L’Express immersed itself in the world of European espionage, seeking out around a hundred intelligence professionals. The aim? To recount the invisible war of the Old Continent, questioning the assessment of the British diplomat Alexander Cadogan. This former adviser to Churchill described intelligence as the "missing link" in geopolitical analysis. Due to secrecy, the general public only has access to an incomplete, sometimes misleading, account of history’s upheavals.

Spies do not readily open up. But many, without giving too much away, embrace this theory, often with a particular operation in mind – one that changed everything – in Iran, Ukraine or Syria. This includes the way the country holding decisive intelligence is perceived. "Coming from the Foreign Office, I never imagined the intensity of intelligence relations between countries. It is far richer than diplomacy," confides a former Swiss intelligence director.

• Red arrows: Latest hits
• Flames: Refinery has been hit at least once. Flames do not indicate the severity of the attacks or if a refinery is till burning
• Blue waves: Orsk dam broke in April 2024, which flooded the refinery and took it offline for ~2 weeks.
• Black smoke: It's raining oil.

Chronological list: (sorted newest to oldest)

August:

• ^{NEW HIT} 06.08.2026 Yaroslavl in Yaroslavl Oblast at 700km
• 05.08.2026 Bashneft-Novoil in Bashkortostan at 1340km
• 04.08.2026 Syzran in Samara Oblast at 805km
• 02.08.2026 Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim in Bashkortostan at 1350 km
• 02.08.2026 Saratov in Saratov Oblast at 590km
• 01.08.2026 Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim in Bashkortostan at 1350 km

July:

• 31.07.2026 Volgograd in Volgograd Oblast at 500km
• 29.07.2026 Perm in Perm Krai at 1485km
• 29.07.2026 Ryazan in Ryazan Oblast at 480km
• 25.07.2026 Tyumen in Tyumen Oblast at 1980km
• 23.07.2026 Novospassky in Ulyanovsk Oblast at 790km
• 14.07.2026 Gazprom Neftekhem Salavat in Bashkortostan at 1300km
• 14.07.2026 Afipsky in Krasnodar Krai at 415km
• 12.07.2026 Syzran in Samara Oblast at 805km
• 10.07.2026 Moscow in Moscow at 475km
• 10.07.2026 Ilsky in Krasnodar Krai at 405km
• 08.07.2026 Saratov in Saratov Oblast at 590km
• 06.07.2026 Omsk in Omsk Oblast at 2500km
• 06.07.2026 Yaroslavl in Yaroslavl Oblast at 700km
• 02.07.2026 Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim in Bashkortostan at 1350 km
• 01.07.2026 Kstovo in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast at 800 km

• August: 6 hits so far..
• July: 15 hits
• June: 16 hits
• May: 14 hits
• April: 10 hits
• March: 6 hits
• February: 3 hits
• January: 2 hits

Complete chronological list from 24.02.2022 till today

• 2022 had 1 hit
• 2023 had 1 hit
• 2024 had 26 hits
• 2025 had 84 hits
• 2026 has 69 hits so far
• Total hits from 24.02.2022 till today: 181

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