The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Sunday issued a press release announcing that Royal Marine Commandos had captured a sanctioned Russian tanker in the Channel in what it called "the latest blow to Russia's war economy."
The vessel, named SMYRTOS and flying under Cameroonian flag, is thought to be part Russia's so-called shadow fleet — a network of ships that clandestinely transport sanctioned Russian fuel, delivering it to buyers willing to flout international sanctions and fund Vladimir Putin's war of aggression in Ukraine.
They are also suspected of damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea as part of Russia's "hybrid war" against NATO-member-state neighbors.
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"In the first UK-led operation of its kind, the vessel SMYRTOS was boarded by Royal Marine Commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency, despite Russia's best efforts to evade sanctions and continue fueling its barbaric war with Ukraine," read the MoD press statement.
