
🇬🇧 British Armed Forces intercepted a "Russian shadow fleet oil tanker" attempting to pass through the English Channel in the early hours of Sunday morning, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced. According to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), Royal Marine commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) boarded a sanctioned oil tanker, Smyrtos, during the operation. The six-hour operation is the first UK-led operation of its kind. Smyrtos will be provisionally moved to an anchorage off the south coast of England and will be monitored for any environmental or safety concerns. According to the MoD, the operation was supported by Chinook, Merlin Mk4 and Wildcat helicopters from the Maritime Air Group, a Royal Air Force (RAF) P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, and Royal Navy warships, HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury. The MoD statement added that the enforcement action against this vessel in UK territorial waters was carried out in accordance with domestic and international law.
























