Britain Seizes First Russian Shadow Fleet Tanker in the Channel

Britain said on Sunday that its forces have carried out their first-ever operation to seize a vessel from Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a network of tankers used to export oil while evading Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine. The tanker, Smyrtos, was intercepted overnight in the English Channel by Royal Navy commando forces, with officers from the National Crime Agency also taking part. London said the operation lasted six hours, and the ship will now be taken to a port in southern England and monitored while the investigation continues.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he ordered the operation to stop the tanker from crossing the Channel. He called it “another blow for Russia” and said it should remind those financing Vladimir Putin’s war that “there will be nowhere for them to hide.” The Ministry of Defence said the shadow fleet includes more than 700 tankers, accounts for 75% of Russia’s oil exports, and serves as a “lifeline” for the Kremlin. Britain says it has sanctioned 500 of those ships and argues Western sanctions have sharply reduced Russian oil and gas export revenues, which it says fell 24% in 2025 compared with the previous year.

The move comes as Ukraine intensifies drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. This morning authorities in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, north of Moscow, reported a “massive drone attack” that hit an oil depot. President Volodymyr Zelensky published footage from the strike and said it targeted a site 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

Britain and its European allies have stepped up efforts against shadow fleet vessels in recent months. France seized the tanker Tagor on May 31 in the Atlantic, 740 kilometers west of Brittany. Moscow has previously denounced such seizures as illegal and “piracy,” but has not yet commented on the overnight British action.

The operation also lands during a delicate political moment for Starmer, after Defence Secretary John Healey resigned on Thursday, accusing the government of failing to fund defence properly. Starmer has appointed Dan Jarvis as the new defence secretary and says he is proud of the government’s plans to raise defence spending to 3.5% by 2035. Healey had pushed for 3% by 2030, not 2.68% as currently planned, and BBC reported Jarvis will not receive extra funding beyond an existing £10 billion allocation.