The European Union has adopted its 18th package of sanctions against Russia in response to its ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. Prior to that some of the netizens on X, have shared a claim. A user with the username ‘TheDailyCPEC’ claimed “BREAKING: European Union has announced sanctions on an Indian oil refinery” on 18 July 2025.
Another user from the account ‘uttampegu’ shared a similar post with the caption “Excellent!”.
Fact Check
DFRAC researched the viral claim and found it to be misleading. When we searched the statement on the internet we came across an article published by ‘The Hindu’. Published on 18 July 2025, the article is titled “EU sanctions Gujarat refinery as it targets Russia’s energy sector”.
The article also indicates that the European Union has imposed sanctions on a Gujarat-based refinery owned by Nayara Energy Ltd. as a new set of sanctions intending to target energy sectors in Russia on Friday (July 18, 2025). Nayara Energy refinery (formerly Essar Oil Ltd.), a Vadinar based refinery, has a 49.13 percent participation of Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft. It is the second biggest refinery of India and has been producing 4,00,000 barrels a day and has 6,300 and more petrol pumps spread all over India.”
The official spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Randhir Jaiswal, posted on X, saying that it has observed the recent sanctions declared by the European Union. “We have noted the latest sanctions announced by the European Union. India does not subscribe to any unilateral sanction measures. We are a responsible actor and remain fully committed to our legal obligations. Government of India considers the provision of energy security a responsibility of paramount importance to meet the basic needs of its citizens. We would stress that there should be no double standards, especially when it comes to energy trade.”
Conclusion
Hence, following the facts retrieved by the article published by The Hindu and the post of the official spokesperson of MEA, we infer that the viral post is misleading. The EU has sanctioned only Gujarat based refinery belonging to Nayara Energy Ltd. due to 49 per cent of its share holding being the Russian state oil company, Rosneft. MEA also adds that India does not adhere to any measures of unilateral sanctions.
