{"id":1025863,"date":"2026-06-14T10:19:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T10:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1025863\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T10:19:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T10:19:29","slug":"video-shows-moment-royal-marine-commandos-stormed-russian-shadow-fleet-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1025863\/","title":{"rendered":"Video shows moment Royal Marine Commandos stormed Russian shadow fleet ship"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Armed Forces boarded and seized the vessel early on Sunday morning<\/p>\n

Neil Shaw<\/strong> Assistant Editor<\/p>\n

11:03, 14 Jun 2026Updated 11:04, 14 Jun 2026<\/p>\n

UK forces intercept Russian shadow fleet vessel<\/p>\n

Royal Marine Commandos intercepted a Russian shadow fleet vessel in the Channel in the early hours of Sunday. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Marines and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency boarded a sanctioned oil tanker during a six-hour operation \u2013 the first UK-led operation of its kind.<\/p>\n

The vessel Smyrtos will be provisionally moved to an anchorage off the south coast of England and be monitored for any environmental or safety concerns. According to the MoD, the operation was supported by aircraft from the Maritime Air Group (Chinooks, Merlin Mk4 and Wildcat), an RAF P-8 aircraft, and HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.<\/p>\n

In footage released by the MoD, personnel are shown boarding the vessel in the dark by fast-roping from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Further video clips show personnel armed with KS-1 rifles conducting searches of cabins aboard the vessel, while officers from the NCA inspect documentation and paperwork.<\/p>\n

\"Armed<\/p>\n

Armed Forces took the ship in a six-hour operation<\/p>\n

According to the MarineTraffic website, Smyrtos sails under the Cameroon flag and left Ust-Luga, Russia, on June 5, with Port Said, Egypt, listed as its destination. The website also says that the vessel is currently off the coast of Weymouth, Dorset.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir Starmer said in a statement: \u201cThis operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling (President Vladimir) Putin\u2019s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide. I want to pay tribute to all those involved, including our armed forces and law enforcement officers who keep this country safe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis said: \u201cOperations like this require skill, professionalism and courage. I pay tribute to our armed forces<\/a> personnel and all those involved. Russia relies on its shadow fleet to fund their conflict in Ukraine and our interdiction delivers a blow to Putin\u2019s illegal war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blow for Putin’s war machine<\/p>\n

Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer wrote on LinkedIn: \u201cThis Government made clear that we would pursue Russia\u2019s shadow fleet under the full force of international law. Russia relies on their shadow fleet tankers to fund their conflict in Ukraine, and this expertly delivered interdiction strikes another blow at Putin\u2019s war machine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pay tribute to the extraordinary courage and professional of our armed forces personnel, and everyone else involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wrote on X: \u201cI pay tribute to the brave Royal Marine Commandos who boarded a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker overnight in the English Channel. Russia\u2019s illegal war in Ukraine is funded by their oil exports in defiance of sanctions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Leader of the Opposition, I support the Government in standing with Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"British Armed Forces boarded and seized the vessel early on Sunday morning Neil Shaw Assistant Editor 11:03, 14…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1025864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7655],"tags":[17542,527,188,11740,285,332],"class_list":["post-1025863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-russia","tag-armed-forces","tag-conservative-party","tag-crime","tag-ministry-of-defence","tag-politics","tag-russia"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116747959415541738","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1025863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1025864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1025863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1025863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1025863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}