Russia has threatened to rig its sanctions-busting tankers and trigger explosions to protect against interference by other coun
Earlier today, Sir Keir Starmer said he authorised the interception of the Russian vessel ‘SMYRTOS’ within the Channel by UK armed forces.
The vessel had been seized after leaving the oil-exporting port of Ust-Luga within the Baltic Sea on June 1 and is now being kept off the south coast of England.
Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitry Rogozin, a senator and former Russian representative to NATO, called for Russia to mine its shadow fleet tankers and trigger explosions if the Royal Navy seizes the vessels.
‘We’d like to mine the tankers we use,’ he said, suggesting the bombs be set off if tankers deviate from their routes and reach a foreign port.
‘If a few explosions occur under their noses with oil spills and related environmental consequences, they’ll soon change their minds,’ he added.
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Rogozin also accused the UK of going back to the sixteenth to 18th centuries, when it ‘actively used pirates within the service of the crown for its political and economic interests.’
Rogozin added: ‘These pirates received “privateer’s patents” from the state, which allowed them to plunder ships and colonies of England’s enemies.
‘This helped to weaken rivals – primarily Spain – disrupt their trade, and expand British colonies. The whole lot recent is just the well-forgotten old.’
After being raided today, the SMYRTOS vessel shall be provisionally anchored off the English south coast and monitored, a joint statement by the Prime Minister, Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis and the Ministry of Defence said.
Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ carries 75% of the country’s sanctioned oil, in response to the MoD, and operates under obscure ownership as a way of getting around international sanctions.
Despite this, the UK has sanctioned greater than 500 of its 700 vessels.
Today’s operation was supported by the Maritime Air Group, an RAF P-8 aircraft, HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.
In one other operation on June 1, the country intercepted a sanctioned oil tanker suspected of being a part of the shadow fleet with UK support.
Speaking on Sky News this morning, Lisa Nandy said: ‘One among the instructions the prime minister gave early on was that he wanted us to be on the front foot, taking that decisive motion with a view to keep the country secure and take care of the threat posed by Russia.
‘This morning, we’ve been in a position to successfully do this. I need to pay tribute to all of the Navy officers involved in that; it is not any small achievement, but additionally it is a major blow to the Russians.’
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