Ukraine stated at the IMO that the vessels of the Russian “shadow fleet” are legitimate military targets

Following Russia’s complaints to the IMO, Ukraine has told the International Maritime Organization that Russian “shadow fleet” vessels can be considered legitimate military targets.

This was reported by the Financial Times, citing a letter from Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba.

According to the publication, the letter was a response to Russia’s appeal to the IMO in early June. Moscow accused Ukraine of “terrorism” after an attack on the Arctic Metagaz LNG tanker in March.

The Russian side claimed that after the strike, a fire broke out on the vessel, which caused it to lose control and the crew to abandon ship.

In response, Ukraine stressed that Russian oil and gas tankers are “critically important for the formation of budget revenues of the Russian Federation and the continuation of its military operations.” The letter states that this casts doubt on the claim that the activities of the “shadow fleet” vessels are exclusively commercial in nature.

Kuleba also recalled that Russia attacked 59 merchant ships. Among them were the Turkish cargo ship MV Victress and the German Helga, which was transporting 25,000 tons of corn to Chornomorsk. According to him, these attacks demonstrate Russia’s disregard for the norms of international humanitarian law, the laws of warfare at sea, and the safety of merchant shipping.