European Union companies purchased record volumes of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the first four months of the year, rushing to secure supplies before new EU spot-market sanctions took effect on 25 April. Russian LNG exports to Europe rose 20.8% year-on-year over that period, with 6.7 million tonnes arriving from the Yamal LNG terminal (a major gas export facility on Russia's Arctic peninsula, majority-owned by the Kremlin-linked firm Novatek) — earning Moscow an estimated €3.9 billion. The buying spree was driven by two compounding pressures: the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has removed roughly a fifth of global LNG supply from the market, and European gas storage levels have fallen to their lowest point since 2022, pushing futures prices for winter deliveries to double their already-elevated current levels.