British Royal Marine commandos seize control of Russian tanker in English Channel
London: In their first operation to seize a ship in the English Channel, British troops boarded a Russian tanker in the English Channel, rappelled onto the ship’s deck and attacked its cabins in a pre-dawn raid.
Commandos intercepted the ship in the dark on Sunday morning, landing on its deck from a Chinook helicopter supported by two Royal Navy ships, a surveillance plane and other helicopters.
The move follows similar operations by the French navy, which seized four Russian tankers last year in an attempt to disrupt oil trade that helps Moscow finance its war against Ukraine.
Footage released hours later showed Royal Marines commandos passing through private quarters of the Smyrtos ship, taking control of the crew and directing them to sail to England’s south coast.
“Royal Navy Royal Marines commandos intervened in the interception of a shadow fleet ship overnight,” said First Sea Lord Gwyn Jenkins, who is also chief of the naval staff.
“Mission success is due to the skills, courage and professionalism of our employees.”
While the Ministry of Defense published statements and images on social media immediately after the six-hour operation, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that this sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government.
Starmer told channel X: “In the early hours of this morning, I instructed our Armed Forces to intercept a shadow fleet oil tanker attempting to cross the English Channel.”
“This successful operation deals another blow to Russia and reminds those who fueled Putin’s war in Ukraine that we will not allow them to hide.”
Smyrtos, flying under the Cameroonian flag but sanctioned as an exporter of Russian oil, is said to have loaded 704,962 barrels of crude oil from the Ust-Luga terminal near St Petersburg. The ship will head to the Indian port of Sikka, maritime news service Lloyd’s List said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked England for the intervention.
“It was Russia’s arrogance, fueled by high oil and gas revenues, that paved the way for this war, and every decision by partners that deprives Russia of money also limits the war itself,” he said.
Zelensky also said that last week he saw Russia launch 1,920 attack aircraft, 1,790 guided aerial bombs and 17 missiles against Ukraine. He said Ukraine needed more air defense support from the West and stronger sanctions on Russia.
The French navy, with support from a Royal Navy helicopter, intercepted a similar tanker, the Tagor, in the Atlantic Ocean about 400 nautical miles west of Brittany earlier this month.
Tagor was stopped while sailing from the Russian port of Murmansk under the Madagascar flag.
French President Emmanuel Macron said it was “unacceptable” that the ships were circumventing international sanctions, violating maritime laws and financing Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said France’s intervention bordered on “international piracy” and was illegal.
The British operation came days before global leaders including Starmer and Macron are due to meet at the G7 summit in Evian, France, on Lake Geneva, where talks are expected to include the war in the Middle East and Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump, who will attend the G7 summit from Monday to Wednesday, has repeatedly accused European leaders of investing too little in defense and giving too little support to the US in its war with Iran.
Starmer prepared for the summit by meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae in London on Sunday. Britain, Italy and Japan are jointly developing supersonic stealth fighter jets within the scope of the program they call the Global Combat Air Program.
Trump is expected to join Macron for dinner at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday.
The British intervention in the Russian tanker also comes at a time when concerns are growing about the country’s military capacity, with disagreement within the government over whether defense spending should be increased to the level required for a major security review.
Former defense secretary John Healey left office on Thursday in a sudden move that fueled rumors of an imminent leadership battle against Starmer, followed hours later by the resignation of Armed Forces Minister Al Carns.
Healey said Starmer had failed to secure a deal to fund defense on the scale needed and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves was “reluctant” to commit the necessary financial resources.
The resignation revealed the cabinet was divided over spending, with many ministers blocking attempts to find savings in social welfare or other programs to raise funds for defence.
A government strategic defense review, or SDR, written by three leading defense and finance experts, set out plans last year that would require £68bn of additional spending on defense over ten years.
Britain spent £60.2 billion on defense in the 2025 financial year and looks on track to increase this to £73.5 billion by 2029, but Healey has made clear that more is needed and has dashed hopes of his cabinet colleagues to spend more.
General Richard Barrons, one of the authors of the review and a former commander of British joint forces, said Healey’s resignation exposed the failure of the competent government.
“A year after the SDR was adopted, the government has decided not to fully fund its own review. In doing so, it is not only failing to make progress, it is actively going backwards,” wrote Barrons, who is now a senior adviser at Chatham House.
“The government actually decided not to fund the defense review commissioned and approved by it because it would rather spend the money elsewhere. That’s a political choice.”
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David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
