British armed forces intercepted, boarded and seized a tanker which was part of Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet,” U.K. prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Russia has been using such vessels to evade sanctions imposed following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, by transporting oil and gas critical to funding its war effort.
Starmer said that that Royal Marine Commandos backed by the U.K’s Royal Air Force (RAF) were involved in the operation to capture the ship Smyrtos, which is now being held in Weymouth on England’s south coast, pending an investigation.
The vessel sails under a Cameroon flag and had left Russia’s Ust-Luga port near St Petersburg on June 5 before crossing into the English Channel on Saturday, the BBC reported.
“This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling Putin’s war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide,” Starmer said on Sunday.
This is a developing story to be updated.
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