EU nations aim to seize alleged ‘Russian shadow fleet' vessels
Western nations, which have been seeking to find ways to curb Russian energy exports, have accused Moscow of employing a
'shadow fleet'
to evade sanctions. In recent months, officials have also accused Moscow of sabotaging undersea cables in the Baltic, though no
evidence
has been provided to substantiate these allegations.
According to Politico's sources, the four states intend to seize suspected shadow fleet ships based on the alleged threat they pose to the environment and to infrastructure, and are seeking EU backing for the initiative. They could amend national legislation to
'make it easier to grab ships further out at sea,'
including by mandating a list of insurers for maritime operations in the Baltic. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told the news outlet that there are
'lots of opportunities'
for enforcing trade restrictions against Russia.
Last December, Finland seized the tanker 'Eagle S' amid an investigation into the damage to the Estlink 2 power cable. The vessel remains impounded despite the Finnish authorities reportedly finding no evidence of wrongdoing.
Read more
Moscow slams West for 'fantastic hypocrisy'
Conversely, a Norwegian cargo ship with an all-Russian crew was released in late January after Norwegian police concluded there were no grounds to continue its detention. The Latvian authorities had requested the seizure of the Silver Dania over an incident involving an optic cable owned by the national broadcaster LVRTC earlier the same month.
Moscow has accused Western nations of peddling a false narrative that frames routine accidents as evidence of a Russian sabotage campaign. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has criticized purveyors for
'fantastic hypocrisy,'
citing the lack of findings in European inquiries into the September 2022 destruction of Nord Stream gas pipelines.
The
'non-investigation'
of that incident suggests that EU nations deem Joe Biden's threat against Russian-German infrastructure
'proper,'
Zakharova said last month, referring to remarks made by the then-US president months before the attack.
READ MORE:
NATO claims Russia plotted to kill EU weapons giant boss
President Vladimir Putin has characterized Western sanctions as tools of non-economic pressure wielded by countries unable to compete with Russia on an equal footing. He views them as a challenge to make the national economy better.
'No blackmail or attempts to impose anything on us will ever yield results. Russia is confident in its rightness and strength,'
he said in a recent speech.
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Their assessments shed light on Moscow's doctrinal shift, future deployment options, and the broader geopolitical implications for Europe and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Moscow had shown restraint for several years after the US withdrew from the INF Treaty in 2019. Although legally freed from its obligations under the accord, Russia opted for a self-imposed moratorium, vowing not to deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles unless similar US systems appeared near its borders. That condition, the Ministry statement asserts, no longer applies. 'Since 2023, we have observed instances of US systems capable of ground-launched INF strikes being transferred to the European NATO countries for trial use during exercises that clearly have an anti-Russian slant.' It also pointed to broader US and allied efforts to institutionalize deployments of such missile systems across multiple theaters. 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Russia has the right to deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles 'when deemed necessary,' following the collapse of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the US, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Moscow had previously opted not to station such weapons in certain regions unless the US and its allies did so first. On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the 'actions of Western countries' had made Moscow's adherence to the moratorium no longer viable as they were creating a 'direct threat' to Russia's security. When asked by journalists to comment on Tuesday, Peskov said Russia 'no longer has any limitations in this regard' and 'no longer considers itself bound by anything.' Moscow reserves the right to deploy such missiles 'when deemed necessary,' he added. The Kremlin spokesman did not elaborate on whether decisions on potential missile deployments had already been taken. 'One can hardly expect any announcements here,' Peskov said, describing it as a question of national defense and 'a sensitive and secretive field.' The INF Treaty between the US and the USSR banned ground-launched missiles with ranges of 500-5,500km. It collapsed in 2019 when Washington unilaterally withdrew from the agreement during Donald Trump's first presidential term. The US justified the move by citing alleged Russian violations. Moscow has vehemently denied the claims, accusing the US itself of developing banned missiles. Russia subsequently called on NATO and the US to exercise restraint and refrain from deploying such systems as it announced its own moratorium on their deployment. Last year, Moscow warned it could lift the moratorium after the US announced plans to deploy long-range weapons in Germany in 2026. On Monday, the Foreign Ministry also cited the deployment of a Typhon missile launcher in the Philippines by the US last year as one of the reasons behind the policy change.
