British forces on Sunday intercepted a sanctioned oil tanker belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet within the English Channel, the protection ministry stated, in a six-hour operation hailed by Kyiv.
Navy commandos boarded the ship below cowl of darkness by fast-roping from a helicopter at the hours of darkness, based on footage launched by the ministry.
The interception within the early hours was supported by Chinook, Merlin Mk4 and Wildcat helicopters and a maritime patrol plane, a press release stated.
The frigate HMS Sutherland and the minehunter HMS Ledbury have been additionally concerned.
“Within the first UK-led operation of its type, the vessel Smyrtos was boarded by Royal Marine Commandos and specifically educated regulation enforcement officers from the Nationwide Crime Company, regardless of Russia’s finest efforts to evade sanctions and proceed fueling its barbaric warfare with Ukraine,” the ministry assertion stated.
The vessel will now be moved to an anchorage off the south coast of England and monitored, it added.
Ukraine’s International Minister Andriy Sybiga welcomed the operation.
“Russia’s shadow fleet is a instrument of warfare. Each such vessel stopped means much less cash for Russia’s warfare machine,” he posted on social media.
“Reducing off these revenues helps scale back Russia’s means to finance missile and drone assaults in opposition to Ukrainian cities.” “Russia depends on its shadow fleet to fund their battle in Ukraine and our interdiction delivers a blow to Putin’s unlawful warfare,” stated newly appointed UK Protection Minister Dan Jarvis.
He stated the operation was carried out in “shut coordination with the French”.
‘Hybrid war’
The UK has sanctioned hundreds of vessels suspected of being part of the shadow fleet used by Russia to bypass Western embargoes since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The ships — usually aging tankers with dubious ownership — are banned from accessing UK ports and services.
Jarvis said disrupting the shadow fleet was “directly bearing down on the resources sustaining Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and reducing its capacity to threaten security across Europe and beyond”.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the operation delivered “yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide”.
In March, the government announced that British forces would be able to board and seize shadow fleet vessels passing through its waters.
The announcement followed the easing of restrictions by Washington on Russian oil to soften prices sent soaring by the US-Israel war against Iran.
France, Belgium, Finland and other European countries have also recently seized sanction-busting vessels believed to belong to the so-called shadow fleet.
London has said such ships are suspected of damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea on several occasions.
The government has said it will propose new legislation aimed at preventing “Russia and other hostile states” from sabotaging vital subsea internet cables.
There have been a series of incidents in the Baltic Sea since 2023, when undersea cables and power lines have been damaged.
Military experts and European leaders say Russia has ramped up its “hybrid war” in the strategic region — now bordered entirely by Nato members barring Russia.
Former defense minister John Healey, who resigned this week, accusing Starmer of failing to provide sufficient funding to defend Britain, said in April that armed forces had tracked and deterred three Russian submarines on an alleged month-long “covert operation” in UK waters in the North Atlantic near vital undersea cables and pipelines.
The row over funding that also triggered the resignation of Healey’s deputy, Al Carnes, and two aides comes as Starmer’s beleaguered center-left government, elected in July 2024 following 14 years of Conservative rule, is under pressure to raise spending and prioritize Nato as the threat from Russia grows.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Nato allies to spend more and become less reliant on Washington for security.
