Commodity trading giant Glencore brought thousands of tonnes of Russian copper routed through Turkey to Italy in July this year, highlighting how shipments via third countries obscure Europe’s true reliance on Russian commodities.

The London-listed oil and metals trader purchased at least 5,000 tonnes of copper sheets made by Russia’s Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC) that were exported from Turkey to Italy’s Livorno port in July, according to customs documents and photographs seen by the Financial Times.

Although there are no blanket sanctions over trading Russian metals, restrictions have been put on certain oligarchs and producers since the war began. The UK and the EU placed sanctions on UMMC executives last year but not the company itself.