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The Prime Minister said he was going after Putin\u2019s shadow fleet \u201ceven harder\u201d, and that Vladimir Putin \u201cshould be in no doubt\u201d that the UK will fight against Moscow\u2019s illicit network of tankers.<\/p>\n
Since then, no ships have been seized, while an average of at least four sanctioned tankers have sailed through the UK\u2019s Exclusive Economic Zone each day, according to data provided by Starboard Maritime Intelligence.<\/p>\n
Of those, 47 sanctioned tankers entered Britain\u2019s territorial waters \u2013 a buffer zone of 12 nautical miles from the coast where authorities have increased jurisdiction to act.<\/p>\n
At the time of publication, at least three suspected shadow tankers sanctioned by the Foreign Office were sailing through the Channel. One of them, Rangler, had previously diverted course following Starmer\u2019s proposed crackdown in March but, in the face of no action, had returned to taking the shorter route through the Channel.<\/p>\n
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At the time of writing three sanctioned Russian vessels were in the Channel (Photo: Starboard Maritime Intelligence)<\/p>\n
The tankers are largely suspected of carrying Russian crude oil illicitly around the globe in order to fund Russian\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. But some have been accused of transporting military goods and loitering over critical UK undersea infrastructure. <\/p>\n
The UK has some 45 undersea cables connecting Britain to other countries that carry essential power supplies and vast quantities of data including financial information.<\/p>\n
During the same period, at least five Russian naval vessels \u2013 including one submarine \u2013 have been spotted in UK waters as an emboldened Kremlin continues to test Downing Street\u2019s rhetoric. <\/p>\n
It came after Defence Secretary John Healey said a days-long Royal Navy operation had watched an Akula attack submarine and two Gugi spy submarines as they spent time over \u201ccritical infrastructure relevant to us and our allies\u201d before heading north out of UK waters.<\/p>\n
Healey added there was \u201cno evidence that there has been any damage\u201d to UK cables and pipelines, but any attempt to damage the infrastructure would not be tolerated and would have \u201cserious consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n
But military, legal and diplomatic constraints appear to be slowing any decisive intervention.<\/p>\n
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Naval helicopters and ships HMS Somerset, HMS St Albans, HMS Mersey and RFA Tideforce were dispatched to shadow four Russian Navy vessels, including a surfaced submarine, in the English Channel and North Sea (Photo: Royal Navy\/MoD)<\/p>\n
John Foreman, the UK\u2019s defence attach\u00e9 to Moscow unto 2022, said the Prime Minister had shown his \u201cbland disingenuousness\u201d when it comes to defence.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe talks a good game, promises much, but as with much of his premiership does little in practice,\u201d Foreman told The i Paper. \u201cThe voters, our allies and our adversaries see right through him.\u201d <\/p>\n
Last week, this newspaper revealed that a Kremlin Amur-class repair ship PM-82, a 122-metre floating workshop designed to maintain Vladimir Putin\u2019s Baltic fleet of ships, had loitered near to offshore wind farms around 50 kilometres from UK shores.<\/p>\n
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Both Keir Starmer and John Healey have warned sanctioned ships passing through UK waters, but none have been seized so far (Photo: Simon Dawson\/Downing Street)<\/p>\n