The shadow fleet is responsible for carrying 75% of Russia’s sanctioned oil
British forces on Sunday boarded a sanctioned Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the English Channel in what officials described as the first UK-led operation of its kind aimed at disrupting Moscow’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine.
Royal Marine Commandos and specially trained officers from the National Crime Agency intercepted the vessel, SMYRTOS, during a six-hour operation in the early hours of the morning. The mission involved support from Maritime Air Group helicopters, an RAF P-8 surveillance aircraft, and Royal Navy ships HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer in March authorised British armed forces and law enforcement officers to board shadow fleet vessels, a network of ageing tankers used to transport oil outside Western restrictions, in accordance with international law. The tanker will now be moved to an anchorage off England’s south coast, where it will remain under observation while investigations continue.
Starmer said the operation “delivers yet another blow to Russia” and warned those supporting President Vladimir Putin’s war effort in Ukraine that “they cannot hide.”
