"Regular participant" of Russia fleet escorts tanker in English Channel despite warning and Royal Navy ops
.jpg?width=96&crop=1:1,smart)
A Russian warship has been spotted escorting an oil tanker for the first time since the UK called to step up its efforts to seize shadow fleet vessels.
Boikiy, a Steregushchy-class corvette which is no stranger to Portsmouth-based Royal Navy ships, was seen escorting an oil tanker. The Times reported that the vessel was accompanying the vessel, General Skobelev, on its way back to the Baltic Sea on Monday (January 19).
Threats from the UK government to confiscate Russian shadow fleet ships have not deterred Moscow ships from transporting sanctioned hardware. Ministers have held discussions on how Britain can legally seize such vessels.
US forces seized the oil tanker Marinera, also known as Bella 1, with the support of Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel and RAF aircraft. Shadow fleet vessels transport goods such as oil with a weak official link to Russia, in order to get round restrictions and fund Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
James Droxford, of the intelligence consultancy Droxford Maritime, told the national publication: “The tanker General Skobelev is a regular participant on what was known as the Syria Express route delivering fuel to Russian interests in Tartus. Boikiy is returning from a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, where she has escorted various Russian sanctioned weapons-carrying ships and tankers from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Levant region and back.”
The tanker is believed to be transporting personnel and weapons from Syria, after the regime under Bashar al-Assad collapsed. The Times said the ship is owned by a Russian transport company with close ties to the nation’s Ministry of Defence. Another tanker, named Lady D, was involved in a similar operation on Tuesday (January 20).
The number of Russian ships sighted in UK waters over the past two years has increased by 30 per cent. Spy ship Yantar was spotted near Scotland last November, shining lasers into the faces of pilots who were trying to monitor their activities.
Most recently, HMS Mersey was deployed to shadow Russian vessels believed to be carrying “sanctioned military hardware”.
Discussing the Russian shadow fleet in the House of Commons on January 7, defence secretary John Healey said: “We owe it to the Ukrainians to step up action on these shadow operations. We’re deterring, disrupting, and degrading the Russian shadow fleet as a priority.
“We’ve imposed sanctions on 544 vessels - so far forcing 200 ships off the seas, almost half of the Russian shadow fleet’s overall capacity, reducing oil revenues by 27 per cent compared to October 2024. The UK will not stand by while malign activity increases on the high seas. Alongside our allies, we’re stepping up our response to shadow vessels and will continue to do so.”