Despite a pledge to wean itself off Russian energy, the European Union remained the largest importer of Russian fossil fuels in September, according to a report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, or CREA, Business Insider reported.

From the start of the Ukraine war until late September, the EU spent more than 100 billion euros, or $97 billion, on Russian fossil fuel imports, the report found. That's despite a decrease in the EU's imports of Russian fossil fuels, which dropped 14% from August to the end of September, and 50% from March to the end of September, the CREA wrote in its report.

China is the second-biggest buyer of Russian oil, behind the EU.

The decline is in part due to a fall in natural-gas supplies after Gazprom halted deliveries via Nord Stream 1. The EU has also banned coal imports since August.

There are other countries taking over some of the EU's lost market share in Russia. The emerging markets of India, China, Turkey, and Malaysia have been snapping up Russian fuel, with imports rising significantly since the start of the Ukraine war, the CREA added.

Crude oil futures are up about 20% year to date. Benchmark European natural-gas futures have more than doubled in the same period.