European LNG imports from key Russian terminal rise 8% year-over-year, reach nearly 1.7 million tons in January, watchdog finds
Russia's flagship liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminal, Yamal LNG, exported a total of 1,690,517 metric tons of LNG to European markets last month, accounting for an 8% increase compared to January 2025, German environmental NGO Urgewald found in a report published Feb. 4.
The report follows an agreement reached in December 2025 by EU countries to ban Russian gas imports beginning Jan. 1, 2028, with LNG imports set to be prohibited at the start of 2027.
Despite the scheduled prohibition, the European Union remains the biggest importer of Russian LNG. In 2025, EU member states imported a total of 7.2 billion euros ($8.4 billion) worth of LNG.
Urgewald, citing data from global trade tracking website Kpler, reported that of the 25 Yamal LNG cargos delivered abroad in January, 23 of the loads were delivered to European ports — with the remaining deliveries destined for China.
Amid the continued imports, sanctions campaigners, including Urgewald, have called on restricting British and French Arc7 LNG carriers from delivering imports to European port, suggesting that restrictions would "significantly curb Russia’s ability to sustain LNG exports during winter operations."
"Sanctioning and restricting these vessels would directly cut off Putin’s Arctic LNG revenues and close one of the most important remaining energy loopholes funding the Kremlin’s war," Sebastian Rötters, a sanctions campaign at Urgewald, said in a statement.
Gas and oil exports have played a crucial role in helping Russia fund its all-out war against Ukraine, which is soon to hit its fourth-year anniversary.
While the Yamal LNG project does not account for all of Russia's LNG exports to Europe, the terminal, a non-sanctioned venture based in northwestern Siberia on the Yamal Peninsula, serves as Russia's key export hub to Europe. Of the 19.7 million metric tons of LNG exports from Yamal, over 15 million tons — or 76.1% — are shipped to European ports.
In 2025, France served as the largest importer of Russian LNG from Yamal LNG, accounting for nearly 42% — or 6.3 million tons — of all imports, according to Urgewald. While another 4.2 million tons of LNG delivered to Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal.
The news comes amid growing Western pressure against Russian LNG trade. The EU on Jan. 26 gave final approval to a decision to ban imports of LNG from Russia by early 2027, with pipeline gas imports to be prohibited later the same year.
Among the proposals in the EU's planned 20th sanctions package against Russia is a complete maritime services ban on Russia. While the proposal has not been finalized, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters that the bloc aims to impose the sanctions package on Feb. 24, he day marking the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
