UK forces intercepted a sanctioned Russian vessel on Sunday, with navy commandos descending onto the ship from helicopters via ropes. The UK and Ukraine praised the action, stating it deprived Russia of funds for its ongoing war of aggression.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) released a press statement on Sunday confirming that Royal Marine Commandos had seized a sanctioned Russian tanker in the Channel, describing it as "the latest blow to Russia's war economy."
The vessel, named SMYRTOS and operating under a Cameroonian flag, is believed to be part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet — a network of ships that covertly transport sanctioned Russian fuel, delivering it to buyers willing to ignore international sanctions and finance Vladimir Putin's war of aggression in Ukraine.
These ships are also suspected of causing damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea as part of Russia's "hybrid war" against NATO-member-state neighbors.
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"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 fueling its barbaric war with Ukraine," the MoD press statement read.
"Russia relies on its shadow fleet to fund their conflict in Ukraine and our interdiction delivers a blow to Putin's illegal war," UK Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis was quoted as saying.
The MoD also shared video footage on its X account of what it described as a six-hour, early morning operation carried out in "close coordination with the French."
"This morning, UK forces boarded a Russian tanker in the English Channel that was secretly helping to bankroll Putin's war in Ukraine," read text accompanying footage showing commandos appearing to rappel onto a ship from helicopters. The MoD noted that several aircraft and ships were involved in the interdiction.
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer characterized the operation as "yet another blow to Russia," stating it, "reminds those fueling Putin's war in Ukraine that they cannot hide."
Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UK has imposed sanctions on hundreds of ships linked to Russia's shadow fleet, but it was only in March that legislation was enacted allowing UK forces to board and seize them.
Defence Secretary Jarvis said the interdiction diminished Russia's "capacity to threaten security across Europe and beyond."
Prime Minister Starmer has faced criticism in recent months, particularly over allegations that his government is underfunding UK defenses—an issue that prompted the resignation of Jarvis' predecessor, John Healey, on Thursday.
Ukraine grateful for UK action, calls on EU to step up interdictions
"The SMYRTOS will be provisionally moved to an anchorage off the South Coast of England and will be monitored for any environmental or safety concerns," Sunday's MoD statement said, adding that "enforcement action" had been "carried out in accordance with domestic and international law."
Belgium, Finland, and France have all impounded shadow fleet ships evading sanctions.
Until now, the UK had only played a supporting role in US and French interdictions. Sunday's operation was the first it initiated and led.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the UK's Sunday morning operation and once more urged allies to increase vigilance.
"Europe urgently needs to take legislative steps to enable not only the detention of tankers and restrictions on oil shipments," he wrote on X, "but also the confiscation of the oil they carry."
"This," he continued, "will certainly help bring peace closer."
"Russia's shadow fleet is a tool of war," wrote Ukraine Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on X, "Every such vessel stopped means less money for Russia's war machine" and Moscow's "drone attacks against Ukrainian cities."
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
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