British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session 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 suspected to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” transporting oil in violation of international sanctions over Moscow’s war against Ukraine, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday.
British armed forces boarded and detained the ship, the Smyrtos, on Sunday in the English Channel, in what the country’s Ministry of Defense called “the first operation of its kind led by the United Kingdom.”
The ship will be detained and monitored off the south coast of England for investigation, according to a Ministry of Defense statement. The operation was carried out “in close coordination” with the French authorities, who had already intercepted several ships linked to the “shadow fleet.”
Russia is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships to evade sanctions over its war against Ukraine.
“This operation deals another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide,” Starmer said.
UK authorities said such operations were “directly impacting the resources underpinning Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and reducing its ability to threaten security across Europe and beyond.”