The Russian Black Sea Fleet frigate Admiral Grigorovich escorted two Russian shadow fleet ships through the English Channel on April 8, while the British warship RFA Tideforce followed them.
This is reported by The Telegraph.
In April, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave special forces the power to seize ships illegally transporting Russian oil. He said he would crack down even harder on the shadowy fleet if it passed through British waters. However, Britain has yet to seize a single Russian vessel.
The US first boarded a sanctioned Russian oil tanker in January, prompting Western nations to vow to seize more. The French navy has intercepted several tankers in the Mediterranean, but dozens of Russian vessels are believed to have passed through the English Channel since Starmerʼs threat.
The Admiral Grigorovich, a frigate armed with anti-ship, cruise and air-to-air missiles, passed between the two 183-meter tankers, the Universal and the Enigma, on the morning of April 8 as they headed west through the channel. The Universal departed from the Russian Baltic port of Vysotsk on January 18. It was added to the British sanctions list in September 2025.
The Cameroon-flagged tanker Enigma was bound for Turkey. It left the Baltic port of Primorsk on March 29. The UK imposed sanctions on it in May 2025.
On the same day, April 8, The Telegraph identified two more Russian tankers subject to sanctions: the Gambian-flagged Desert Kite and the Sierra Leonean-flagged Kousai. They passed through the English Channel in the opposite direction on the evening of April 7.
The British government plans to use the Royal Navy and the National Crime Agency to intercept tankers. The legal basis for this is sanctions legislation passed in 2018. Special forces from the Special Boat Service (SBS) and Special Air Service (SAS) could potentially board a tanker if they see armed guards on board. Royal Marines can board vessels that do not pose a threat.
However, Moscow has warned that it will take retaliatory measures if the military is used to detain the ships. Russiaʼs ambassador to Britain, Andrei Kelin, said that Russia was developing appropriate measures.
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