British forces intercept Russian shadow fleet in English Channel

LONDON – British forces on June 14 intercepted a sanctioned oil tanker belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet in the English Channel, the defence ministry said, in a six-hour operation hailed by Kyiv as a blow to Moscow’s war machine.

Navy commandos boarded the ship by fast-roping from a helicopter in the dark, according to footage released by the ministry.

The interception in the early hours was supported by Chinook, Merlin Mk4 and Wildcat helicopters and a maritime patrol aircraft, a ministry statement said.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga welcomed the operation.

“Russia’s shadow fleet is a tool of war. Every such vessel stopped means less money for Russia’s war machine,” he posted on social media.

“Cutting off these revenues helps reduce Russia’s ability to finance missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities.”

The frigate HMS Sutherland and the minehunter HMS Ledbury were also involved.

Further video clips showed armed personnel conducting searches of cabins.

“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 fuelling its barbaric war with Ukraine,” the ministry statement said.

The vessel was to be moved to an anchorage off the south coast of England and monitored, it added.

Britain 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 ageing tankers with dubious ownership – are banned from accessing UK ports and services.

“Russia relies on its shadow fleet to fund their conflict in Ukraine and our interdiction delivers a blow to Putin’s illegal war,” said newly appointed British Defence Minister Dan Jarvis.

He said the operation was carried out in “close coordination with the French”.

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”.

According to the MarineTraffic website, Smyrtos sails under the Cameroon flag and left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on June 5, with Port Said, Egypt, listed as its destination.

In March, the British 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 defence minister John Healey, who resigned after claiming the government was 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 British waters in the North Atlantic near vital undersea cables and pipelines.

The row about funding that also triggered the resignation of Healey’s deputy Al Carns and two aides comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s beleaguered centre-left government, elected in July 2024 following 14 years of Conservative rule, is under pressure to raise spending and prioritise 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. AFP