Britain announced on Sunday that its forces had, for the first time, carried out an operation to seize one of the tankers belonging to Russia’s "shadow fleet" — the network of vessels used to export Russian oil while evading Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
The operation took place overnight in the English Channel and was led by Royal Navy commandos. The tanker seized by Britain, Smyrtos, was reportedly sailing under the flag of Cameroon. The Ministry of Defence in London said the operation, which also involved officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA), lasted six hours. The tanker will now be taken to a port in southern England and monitored while an investigation continues.
Smoke plumes - and a drone in the sky: distributed documentation of an attack on a Yaroslavl oil facility in Russia
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that he personally authorized the operation to intercept the vessel as it attempted to transit the Channel.
"This successful operation is another blow to Russia and serves as a reminder that those funding Putin's war will have nowhere to hide," Starmer said Sunday. "I want to thank our security forces and law enforcement who keep this country safe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
Russia’s "shadow fleet" refers to a network of often aging oil tankers operating under various national flags and through opaque ownership structures in an effort to bypass Western sanctions on Russian oil — a key source of revenue for the Kremlin’s war effort in Ukraine. According to the British Ministry of Defence, the fleet includes more than 700 tankers responsible for about 75% of Russia’s oil exports, providing what it described as a "lifeline" to the Kremlin.
5 View gallery
Britain announced its forces had carried out an operation to seize one of the tankers belonging to Russia’s "shadow fleet"
(Photo: wikimedia)
Britain has imposed sanctions on around 500 of those vessels and says Western restrictions have significantly reduced Russian oil and natural gas revenues, which fell by 24% in 2025 compared with the previous year. Part of that decline may also be linked to Ukraine’s increasingly frequent drone strikes on energy infrastructure deep inside Russia.
On Sunday, authorities in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, north of Moscow, reported a "massive drone attack" that damaged an oil storage facility. Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from the site. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published footage of the strike and said the target was located 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
5 View gallery
Russia’s 'shadow fleet' refers to a network of often aging oil tankers operating under various national flags
(Photo: REUTERS/Norlys Perez)
Britain and its European allies have expanded efforts in recent months to seize vessels linked to the shadow fleet. The Channel operation comes roughly two weeks after France seized the oil tanker Tagor on May 31 in the Atlantic Ocean, about 740 kilometers west of Brittany. Russia has condemned previous seizures as violations of international law and acts of "piracy." Moscow had not commented on the latest operation as of Sunday.
Britain has grown increasingly concerned about Russia, not only because of the war in Ukraine and Moscow’s threats against Western countries supporting Kyiv, but also due to what London says are increasingly frequent Russian incursions into British territorial waters. Starmer announced in late March that British forces had been authorized to seize sanctioned oil tankers operating in UK waters, but Sunday’s operation marked the first time that threat was carried out.
At the end of April, Reuters reported that at least 98 shadow-fleet tankers had crossed the Channel in the month following Starmer’s announcement without any action being taken. The number is likely to have risen significantly since then.
5 View gallery
Authorities in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, north of Moscow, reported a 'massive drone attack'
The seizure comes at a politically sensitive moment for Starmer. On Thursday, Defence Secretary John Healey resigned, citing what he described as the government’s unwillingness to invest sufficient funds in defense despite growing security threats. In his resignation letter, John Healey accused Starmer directly of failing to allocate sufficient funding to Britain's armed forces at a time of growing security threats.
His departure intensified pressure on Starmer, who has already faced growing internal dissent and calls to step down in recent weeks. The prime minister has repeatedly insisted he has no intention of resigning and quickly appointed Dan Jarvis, previously a junior cabinet minister, as the new defence secretary.
Starmer said he was "proud" of his government’s record on increasing defense spending and argued that a long-delayed defense strategy currently being finalized would "provide the resources our military needs to keep us safe."
5 View gallery
Prime Minister Starmer and Defense Minister Healy
(Photo: AP, CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP, Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP, AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)
The plan focuses on long-term investments over the next decade. While Starmer’s government has committed to raising defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035, reports indicate Healey had pushed for spending to reach 3% by 2030 rather than the 2.68% currently planned. Healey said the government was prepared to allocate only an additional £10 billion (around 13,4 billion dollars) to the military, a figure he argued falls far short of what is needed.
Jarvis pledged on Sunday to ensure Britain’s armed forces receive the support they need to rise to the challenge. However, the BBC reported that he will not receive additional funding beyond the already approved £10 billion and will instead have to reprioritize existing spending.