Seoul rejects Kyiv claim over helping ease Russia fuel shortage

South Korea on Wednesday rejected Ukraine's claim that petroleum shipments from South Korean ports helped Russia ease a fuel shortage caused by Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.

Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written statement that Seoul has consistently implemented sanctions and export controls against Russia in close coordination with the international community since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"There has been no change in this position of our government," Kang added.

She also said it was "inaccurate and inappropriate" for a Ukrainian presidential office official to publicly suggest that South Korea had helped ease Russia's fuel shortages and offset losses in its refining capacity, contrary to Seoul's sanctions policy.

On Tuesday, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine's presidential commissioner for sanctions policy, said that shipments from South Korean ports had helped Russia ease fuel shortages and offset losses in refining capacity caused by Ukrainian strikes, citing a Guardian report.

The Guardian reported that more than 176,000 tons of fuel, mostly diesel, were loaded at South Korean ports onto seven tankers that made 14 voyages to Russia's Far East in July and August. The newspaper, however, said it was unclear who owned or sold the fuel.

Kang said the government was verifying the facts and reviewing possible export-control issues, and would take necessary measures if any problems were found.

She also urged Ukraine to refrain from making public remarks that could "distort South Korea's relevant policies or undermine its international credibility without sufficient verification of the facts."

According to a report by the presidential National Security Office, Seoul has banned exports of strategic items to Russia and expanded export controls on nonstrategic items with potential military applications from 57 products in March 2022 to 1,402 in June 2024.

The same report said South Korea's exports to Russia fell 60 percent from $10 billion in 2021 to $4 billion in 2025.

Refined petroleum products such as diesel and jet fuel are not among those controlled items.

However, a National Security Office official said government trade statistics show that no diesel, gasoline or jet fuel was exported from South Korea to Russia between 2025 and August this year.