The UK military has intercepted an oil tanker linked to Russia’s shadow fleet in the English Channel, according to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in the first such operation by British forces.
“In the early hours of this morning, I directed our Armed Forces to intercept a shadow fleet oil tanker attempting to pass through the English Channel,” Starmer said in a post on X.
“This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide.”
France has previously intercepted several vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet, which carries Russian oil in defiance of international sanctions.
The tanker seized Sunday is the Cameroon-flagged Smyrtos, which was sanctioned last year by the UK for its involvement in shipping Russian oil.
Commandos and the UK’s National Crime Agency were involved in boarding the ship in the English Channel.
Ship tracking data shows that the Smyrtos was in the Russian port of Luga Bay on June 5 and left the Baltic six days later. Its destination was given as Port Said in Egypt.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky applauded the UK action and said that “Europe urgently needs to take legislative steps to enable not only the detention of tankers and restrictions on oil shipments, but also the confiscation of the oil they carry.”
A Kremlin envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said that Starmer was “using the detention of a tanker as a distraction from the (UK’s) migrant crisis.”
The interception of the Smyrtos occurred just days after the PM appointed a new Defense Secretary, Dan Jarvis, following the resignation of John Healey from Starmer’s fragile government in a dispute over military budgets.
“Russia relies on its shadow fleet to fund their conflict in Ukraine and our interdiction delivers a blow to Putin’s illegal war,” Jarvis said.
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EG