Vladimir Putin today dramatically threatened to seize British ships in the Pacific.He framed the move as tit-for-tat if Andy Burnham orders the arrest of more Russian shadow fleet tankers carrying oil to boost Moscow's war coffers.Dressed in naval-style uniform, Putin went aboard the missile cruiser Varyag for Pacific Fleet war games, as a show of strength to the West.His fleet commander, Admiral Viktor Liina, said that he had identified 26 British commercial vessels since April in Russia's exclusive economic zone, adding: 'We have the capabilities to inspect and detain vessels from unfriendly states and their shadow fleet… We are ready to begin tackling these tasks.'Putin made it clear he is ready to confront the West. 'We can see that the authorities of some [European] countries, in violation of international maritime law, are trying to restrict the movement of vessels belonging to our economic operators,' he said.'Peaceful vessels, I want to emphasise. And recently they have gone so far as to seize our vessels and sell property looted from us. Naturally, this is nothing other than piracy and robbery.'If countries continue to implement the measures 'we will be forced to respond in kind', said Putin, after flying to Russia's largest island, Sakhalin, for the naval drills. Vladimir Putin today dramatically threatened to seize British ships in the Pacific Royal Navy warships and helicopters spent 21 days on operations monitoring Russian activity in UK waters and the North Atlantic throughout July - a 25 per cent increase in the last year Putin framed the move as tit-for-tat if Andy Burnham orders the arrest of more Russian shadow fleet tankers carrying oil to boost Moscow's war coffersSuch action would take place 'not necessarily in the same waters where raids on our ships and vessels are being planned, but wherever we ourselves consider it necessary and appropriate', he continued. 'Anywhere, including within the Pacific Fleet's area of responsibility.'The dictator warned: 'I would ask you to pay attention to this. The Defence Ministry has been given such an instruction, and I know that it has also been passed on to the Pacific Fleet command.'On June 14, Royal Marines and National Crime Agency officers boarded the sanctioned shadow-fleet tanker Smyrtos in international waters, some 25 miles south of the Isle of Wight.Commandos fast-roped from helicopters during a six-hour operation supported by HMS Sutherland, HMS Ledbury and RAF aircraft.One option was to sell the seized oil – worth up to £40million – and give the proceeds to Ukraine.Admiral Liina said: 'In the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation alone... 1001 vessels passed through between April 24 and August 6, 2026.'Of these, 379 were flying the flags of unfriendly states, including 273 dry cargo ships and 71 tankers. This included 26 British vessels and nine French vessels.'At the same time, Western states are actively using vessels flying the flags of third countries to transport cargo in their own interests. In essence, this is their shadow fleet.'We have the capabilities to inspect and detain vessels from unfriendly states and their shadow fleet. Inter-agency coordination is in place.'We are ready to begin tackling these tasks.' Overall, Royal Navy efforts to monitor Russian activity is up 25 per cent across the first seven months of the year compared to 2025Putin's security council number two Dmitry Medvedev rammed home the Russian threat.'The overwhelming majority of Western European vessels also sail under flags of convenience,' he said. 'And what does that mean?'It means that, following a symmetrical approach, which is only fair, Russia has the right to attack any merchant vessel belonging to hostile countries, whether in our waters or in neutral waters, if there are sufficient grounds to suspect that it is carrying cargo in the interests of the enemy. In other words, any cargo at all.'And there are a great many such vessels. Our Armed Forces are capable of sharply expanding their operations beyond the Black Sea basin.'That is exactly what the commander of the Pacific Fleet reported today to the Supreme Commander in Chief [Putin].'Putin wore a dark-blue, naval-style working uniform, similar to those worn by senior Pacific Fleet officers, but bearing personalised presidential and supreme-commander insignia.Royal Navy warships and helicopters spent 21 days on operations monitoring Russian activity in UK waters and the North Atlantic throughout the month of July.Overall, Royal Navy efforts to monitor Russian activity are up 25 per cent across the first seven months of the year compared to 2025. It comes as Ukrainian anti-ship missiles, jet-powered aerial drones and sea drones blitzed a major Russian naval base on the Black Sea coast in a 'unique' nighttime operation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesda The Ukrainian military 'carried out a unique operation targeting the naval base in Novorossiysk - the last major stronghold of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea,' Zelensky said in a social media post Wednesday The attack struck air defences, piers and other port infrastructure in the Krasnodar region city, he addedIt comes as Ukrainian anti-ship missiles, jet-powered aerial drones and sea drones blitzed a major Russian naval base on the Black Sea coast in a 'unique' nighttime operation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.Cutting-edge drones developed by Kyiv since Russia invaded more than four years ago have repeatedly targeted Russian ships in the Black Sea, including warships and oil tankers. Both countries have Black Sea shorelines.Ukraine's uncrewed fleet has succeeded in limiting the movements of Russia's once-dominant Black Sea navy, Kyiv officials say, in one of the country's biggest accomplishments of the war.But Ukrainian officials reckon that Putin is bent on prosecuting the war, despite his bigger army's slow and costly progress on the battlefield and US diplomatic efforts to find a settlement.Putin is planning 'an additional rapid mobilisation of several hundred thousand Russians by the end of the year,' Zelensky said on social media late Tuesday, citing Ukrainian intelligence reports.The Ukrainian military 'carried out a unique operation targeting the naval base in Novorossiysk - the last major stronghold of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea,' Zelensky said in a social media post Wednesday.The attack struck air defences, piers and other port infrastructure in the Krasnodar region city, he added.Krasnodar region Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said that hundreds of Ukrainian drones attacked Novorossiysk, Anapa and Gelendzhik and the Temryuk district of the region overnight.Russian air defences downed more than 500 Ukrainian drones, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said.In Novorossiysk, an eight-year-old child was killed in the attack, and a person wounded when his house in the Temryuk region was hit later died in hospital, Mr Kondratyev said. He added that 12 other people in the region were wounded.Debris from downed drones fell on the territory of four industrial plants and 21 residential buildings, according to Mr Kondratyev, but officials gave no details of any damage.Novorossiysk is also home to a key international oil terminal. The Grushovaya oil transshipment complex near Novorossiysk is one of the largest transshipment hubs in southern Russia for oil and petroleum products.Last February, the US State Department expressed its displeasure about Ukraine's attacks on Novorossiysk, saying they have affected US oil interests in Kazakhstan.The Caspian Pipeline Consortium operates a pipeline from the Caspian coast in north-west Kazakhstan to Novorossiysk. The pipeline handles much of the crude exports from three major Kazakh fields in which major US energy companies, Chevron and ExxonMobil, have stakes.In illegally annexed Crimea, air defences downed 115 Ukrainian drones over Sevastopol overnight, the city's Russia-appointed head Mikhail Razvozhayev said, adding that ten apartment buildings and 25 private houses were damaged.Meanwhile, Ukraine's air force said Wednesday that Russia fired 138 long-range strike drones as well as an unspecified number of missiles at Ukraine during the night. Damage was recorded at 16 locations across the country, it said.In the southern Kherson region of Ukraine, a large-scale Russian drone attack overnight killed two people and wounded two others, regional head Oleksandr Prokudin said Wednesday.The attacks also destroyed a shopping mall in the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia, according to authorities.This is a breaking news story. More to follow