Russia warns of "collective strikes" that may target the shadow fleet.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

((Arab Sea)) Follow-ups: Russian foreign intelligence warned on Monday of an imminent attack that NATO countries might launch on what is known as the Russian "shadow fleet." Russian foreign intelligence stated: "British intelligence agencies are planning to push NATO allies towards launching a collective raid on what is known as the "shadow fleet." The shadow fleet refers to a group of commercial ships believed to be operated by Russia for its benefit in order to circumvent international sanctions on Moscow, particularly those related to oil exports. Russian intelligence indicated that "Britain is planning to choose the timing of the attack so that it uses its media impact to pressure the Trump administration (US President Donald Trump), and the goal is to force Washington to impose secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian energy resources." It also pointed out that "London intends to task Ukrainian forces with carrying out terrorist attacks against Russian oil tankers." Britain imposed sanctions last July on 135 oil tankers belonging to the Russian shadow fleet, in an attempt to disrupt the flow of funds that help Moscow finance the war in Ukraine. The British Foreign Office said in a statement that sanctions were also imposed on a shipping services company and an oil trading company as part of the campaign against a fleet "responsible for transporting goods worth $24 billion in illegal ways since the beginning of 2024." Security analysts say that Russia is using a fleet of old ships to circumvent international sanctions that prevent it from selling oil. The European Union and the United Kingdom have also imposed sanctions on hundreds of ships since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in Ukraine in 2022. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "The new sanctions will further dismantle the shadow fleet used by Putin and deplete important oil revenues to finance the Russian war chest."