The Royal Navy will begin capture RussiaThe ships of the shadow fleet when they slip through the waters of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister has announced.
Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would join its northern European allies in seizing the tankers as part of an effort to ‘go after’ vessels that break fuel sanctions. Vladimir PutinThe Ukrainian war.
He said: ‘Putin is rubbing his hands in the war Middle East because he thinks higher oil prices will allow him to line his pockets.
“That’s why we will go after his shadow fleet even harder, not only keeping Britain safe, but starving Putin’s war machine of the dirty profits funding his barbaric campaign in Ukraine.
“He and his cronies should have no doubt, we will always defend our sovereignty and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
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Moscow’s shadow fleet is reported to consist of more than a thousand obsolete tankers.
They illegally ship oil and other goods out of Russia flying the flags of other countries in order to evade sanctions imposed by the West since the conflict began.
The Prime Minister has given the go-ahead for the UK to begin seizing shadow fleet vessels as he travels to Helsinki, finlandfor a summit with national leaders from the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).
The JEF, a military coalition of 10 northern European countries led by Great Britain, aims to defend against Russian incursions.
It also includes Denmark, Estoniafinland, Puffin Island, LatviaLithuania, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
British forces have already been involved in tracking shadow fleet vessels for several years and have supported other countries’ ship seizure operations.
In January, the UK helped seize the Marinera oil tanker from the US.
Formerly known as Bella-1, the Russian-flagged vessel was intercepted by US forces assisted by RAF aircraft and the British supply ship RFA Tideforce in the Atlantic.
Later that month, the Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Dagger helped the French capture another sanctioned vessel, the Grinch, in the western Mediterranean by escorting the vessel through the Straits of Gibraltar.
Last week, the French seized the Deyna oil tanker in the Mediterranean, backed by Great Britain.
Libyan authorities have meanwhile towed a suspected shadow fleet oil tanker found drifting in the Mediterranean believed to have been hit by a drone strike.
The tanker, carrying liquefied natural gas, was towed to avoid a spill in the Mediterranean.
At the JEF summit, the prime minister and other leaders are expected to discuss common security in the so-called High North and the war in Ukraine.
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