British armed forces have intercepted a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker attempting to pass through the English Channel.
The vessel Smyrtos was boarded by Royal Marine commandos and specially trained law-enforcement officers on Sunday, Britain’s ministry of defence said in a statement.
The vessel will be held and monitored off the south coast of England as investigations continue, the statement said, adding that enforcement action in Britain’s territorial waters was carried out in accordance with domestic and international law.
British prime minister Keir Starmer said he had directed the interception.
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“This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling Putin’s war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide,” Starmer said in a post on X.
Starmer, who is facing a potential leadership challenge and lost his defence secretary last week over a dispute about military spending, had in March given permission for the British military to board and detain Russian ships that western governments say help Moscow export oil despite sanctions.
The UK prime minister’s change of stance did not immediately have any impact on the number of Russian vessels under sanctions passing through UK waters, according to a Reuters analysis which showed a similar number transited its waters before and after the announcement.
Until Sunday, Britain’s involvement in efforts to stop the vessels had been limited to supporting French and US operations.
In footage released by the UK government, personnel are shown boarding the vessel in the dark by fast-roping from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
Further video clips show personnel armed with KS-1 rifles conducting searches of cabins aboard the vessel, while officers from the NCA inspect documentation and paperwork.
According to the MarineTraffic website, Smyrtos sails under the Cameroon flag and left Ust-Luga, Russia, on June 5th, with Port Said, Egypt, listed as its destination.
The website also says that the vessel is currently off the coast of Weymouth, Dorset.
Starmer said in a statement: “This operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling [Vladimir] Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide.
Starmer said in March that the UK would join northern European allies in intercepting Russia’s shadow fleet, in an attempt to “go after” the sanction-breaking ships “even harder”.
Moscow’s shadow fleet is reported to be made up of more than 1,000 ageing tankers that illicitly ship oil and other goods out of Russia by flying the flags of other countries, with the aim of evading sanctions imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Closing off British waters to the shadow fleet is aimed at forcing the Russian vessels into taking longer, more costly sea routes, or risk being intercepted by the UK.
British forces have already been involved in tracking shadow fleet vessels for several years, and have supported operations by other countries to seize the ships.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the UK for “such principled resolve”.
The Ukrainian president wrote on X: “I am grateful to the UK for taking this important step against Russia’s oil fleet – a shadow fleet tanker has been detained off the UK’s southern coast.
“It was Russia’s hubris, fuelled by high oil and gas revenues, that paved the way for this war, and every decision by partners that deprives Russia of money also limits the war itself.
“I thank @Keir_Starmer and all Britons for such principled resolve. And 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. This will certainly help bring peace closer. – Reuters/PA
