India Is Buying 33 Times More Russian Oil

India is buying an astonishing 33 times more oil from Russia than it was a year ago, Bloomberg reported on January 16.

• According to energy cargo tracker Vortexa, India bought about 1.2 million barrels of Russian oil per day in December 2022, compared to just 36,255 barrels per day in December 2021.

War crude: Before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India purchased most of its oil imports from the Middle East, West Africa and American countries. However, due to sanctions on Russian oil, crude from these regions is becoming more expensive as European demand grows. At the same time, Russian oil is becoming cheaper as Russia is forced to sell at discounted prices. The sanctions have diverted some of India’s suppliers, but they have also opened up a large, cheap market for Russian crude.

We do not ask our companies to buy Russian oil. We ask our companies to buy oil [based on] what is the best option that they can get. Now, it depends on what the market throws up.
—S. Jaishankar, minister of External Affairs of India

Prophecy says: A great alliance between “the kings of the east” (Revelation 16:12) will form and rally an army of 200 million men (Revelation 9:16). Ezekiel 38 explains that Russia will lead this alliance and India will be one of its main supporters.

This is significant because India has a population of 1.4 billion people—plus an advanced nuclear arsenal! When you put India and Japan together with Russia and China, it is easy to see how an army of 200 million soldiers could be formed.
—Gerald Flurry, Trumpet editor in chief, The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia’

India has been a loyal friend to Russia in the past. When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and annexed Crimea in 2014, India never condemned the nation in either instance. Now in Russia’s latest campaign against Ukraine, India still has remained a close ally.

Learn more: Read Russia and China in Prophecy.