Russian Fighter Jet Protects ‘Shadow Fleet’ Vessel in First Such Move by Moscow, Officials Say

Putin's "Shadow Fleet" receives military protection: Russian fighter jet violates NATO airspace over Estonia. Tankers bypass Western oil sanctions.

Estonia-Russia ship standoff portends a harsher tone on the Baltic Sea

MILAN — Russia’s detention of a Greek-owned ship that departed from Estonia – days after Estonian forces tried to intercept a Russia-bound tanker – signals Moscow’s willingness to deploy military power more overtly to protect its shadow-fleet, a vital pillar of its war economy, experts say.Russia temporarily stopped the oil tanker in its territorial waters on Sunday following the Estonian navy’s attempt last week to stop the unflagged and unresp…

Until last week, a secret fleet of ships carrying Russian oil around the world showed no clear ties to the Kremlin. This changed when, in a dramatic escalation, Russia used a fighter plane in an apparent...

By Joseph Ataman Until last week, a secret fleet of ships transporting Russian oil around the world showed no clear ties to the Kremlin. That changed when, in a dramatic escalation, Russia used a fighter jet in an apparent attempt to protect one of the tankers believed to be part of the fleet. After contacting the Jaguar—an unflagged tanker sanctioned by the United Kingdom earlier this month—on May 13 to conduct inspections, a Russian Su-35 figh…

On maritime traffic maps, it looks like ships are dancing in a loop near the Finnish maritime border. In reality, there are no ships there.

Experts: Russia playing a whole new game in the Baltic Sea

Experts and politicians agree that by sending a warplane to escort a shadow fleet tanker, Russia has started playing an entirely new game in the Baltic Sea — one that calls for swift conclusions and responses from coastal states, the EU and other relevant parties.