Russian warships begin escorting “shadow fleet” tankers through the English Channel

Russian warships have begun escorting sanctioned tankers as they pass through the English Channel.

The Telegraph reports.

The frigate Admiral Grigorovich escorted the sanctioned tankers Universal and Enigma, which are carrying oil from Russia, through the strait. The vessels passed through British territorial waters, and were followed by a ship from the British auxiliary fleet. Previously, similar escorts have already been used for other tankers.

Russia is trying to forcefully guarantee transportation by the “shadow fleet”, which accounts for about 40% of oil exports. In total, it has about 700 ships, of which more than 500 are under sanctions.

Despite Britain’s tough rhetoric about the possible interception of such ships, none of them has been detained so far, and more than 300 tankers have passed through the country’s waters since the beginning of the year alone. This is partly explained by the fact that the routes also pass through the waters of other countries, which complicates forceful actions.

At the same time, the very appearance of military escort means raising the stakes: any attempt to detain now carries the risk of a direct military incident.

Earlier, USM reported that employees of a security company affiliated with the FSB were on board the Russian tanker detained in France.