Russian jet protects shadow fleet - Moscow's first use

Russian jet protects shadow fleet - Moscow's first use

to the last week showed a mysterious fleet of ships that transport Russian oil around the world, no clear connections to the Kremlin. This changed dramatically when Russia started a fighter jet to protect one of the tankers from whom one belongs to the fleet.

incident with the tanker Jaguar

On May 13th, the unregistered ship Jaguar, the beginning of the month of Great Britain sanctioned by the Estische armed forces, to contact To carry out checks. A Russian SU-35 fight jet flew over the ship, which was in Estian airspace. The Estic armed forces finally escorted the tanker from the Estian waters.

reactions of the international community

"This is something completely new," said Estic Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna on Thursday at a NATO meeting in Turkey. Russia has now "officially connected to the so -called shadow fleet," he added. Experts also agree. "This seems to be a fundamental change in the way of thinking of the Kremlin," said Ed Arnold, a senior research employee at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), in an interview with CNN.

The shadow fleet and its environmental effects

The shadow fleet is estimated on hundreds of ships that have no official connections to Russia. In some cases, many of these old, poorly maintained ships Environmental damage Target = "_ blank" href = "https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/29/baltic-cables-russian-sabotage-explained-intex.html"> of some also associated with damage to important Setssekabeln in front of the Baltic Sea coast. Russia denies any responsibility for the damage.

First military reaction to economic sanctions

The use of "military measures" for the first time in response to economic sanctions is "proof of the extent of the threat that we face at the eastern NATO front," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told journalists at the meeting in Turkey

monitoring and sanctions

The monitoring and sanctioning of the shadow fleet is effective and must be further intensified, the Estic Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The incident shows that the western sanctions have an effect. CNN could not find the registered owner of the Jaguar. The Russian Ministry of Defense did not respond to the request from CNN.

planned new sanctions against Russia

The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that a new sanction package could possibly be passed on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin did not participate in the talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey. Merz had previously said that the "shadow fleet" of Russia, which "operates up to 300 ships in the Baltic Sea", should be targeted in this package.

further developments in the Baltic Sea area

In a possible retribution step, a Greek-obsessed oil tanker ship, the Green Admire, was captured by Russia on Sunday, while on a course agreed by Russian waters on a course agreed by Estonia, Finland and Russia. Since June last year, the Estonian authorities have carried out more than 450 checks of ships in the waters of the Baltic Sea controlled by Tallinn, including the Finnish Gulf, one of the main traffic arteries for Russian foreign trade.