Britain Could Sell $46M in Seized Russian Oil and Send the Proceeds to Ukraine

The British government is considering selling 98,000 tons of Russian crude oil from a detained shadow fleet tanker and using the proceeds to support Ukraine, The Telegraph reported on June 25.

According to the report, UK officials may hold an auction for the oil aboard the tanker SMYRTOS, which was stopped by Royal Marines in the English Channel on June 14.

Since then, the vessel has been anchored off the coast of Weymouth under the control of the Ministry of Defence. The tanker’s captain, Indian citizen Ajay Pant, has been charged with sanctions evasion.

Sources told The Telegraph that the ship is eventually expected to be released once detectives from the National Crime Agency complete their investigation.

However, officials reportedly believe the 98,000 tons of crude oil on board are now legally owned by the United Kingdom, meaning the government could use or sell the cargo.

Ministers are considering proposals to sell the oil, which has an estimated market value of around $46 million, and use the money to fund Ukraine’s military needs. The plan is still at an early stage.

One option under discussion would see the funds transferred directly to Kyiv. Another would use the proceeds to buy equipment for Ukraine’s frontline forces.

A separate option would involve refining the oil in the UK and using it to heat homes, though it remains unclear how the crude would be transferred from state ownership to an energy company.

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World

Europe vs. Russia’s Shadow Fleet: Why Detentions Alone Aren’t Enough

Jun 04, 2026 17:27

Previously, the Swedish Coast Guard took control of a suspected stateless vessel in Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea, marking the second such incident in less than a week.

Before that, Swedish authorities detained the cargo vessel Caffa in the Baltic Sea after it was suspected of involvement in transporting grain taken from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.

Earlier, the French Navy detained another Russian shadow fleet oil tanker, Deliver, near the coast of Sicily after it departed Russia’s Primorsk port under the flag of Cameroon.

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