Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Avenue to attend the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions in parliament in London, Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
Kin Cheung/AP
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Kin Cheung/AP
LONDON — Britain is investigating a sanctioned tanker that’s suspected of being a part of the Russian “shadow fleet,” transport oil in violation of worldwide sanctions over Moscow’s warfare on Ukraine, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned Sunday.
British armed forces boarded and detained the vessel, the Smyrtos, on Sunday within the English Channel, in what the nation’s Protection Ministry referred to as “the first UK-led operation of its kind.”
The vessel will likely be held and monitored off the south coast of England for investigation, based on an announcement by the Protection Ministry. The operation was carried out “in close coordination” with French authorities, who’ve beforehand intercepted plenty of vessels linked to the “shadow fleet.”
Russia is believed to be utilizing a fleet of lots of of ships to evade sanctions over its warfare towards Ukraine.
“This operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide,” Starmer mentioned.
U.Ok. authorities mentioned that such operations have been “directly bearing down on the resources sustaining Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and reducing its capacity to threaten security across Europe and beyond.”
