Machine Gun on a Gazprom Tanker? Russian Civilian Ship Spotted Armed Near Europe

Estonian border guards reportedly recorded what may be the first known case of a civilian Russian tanker moving through the Gulf of Finland with a Kord heavy machine gun on board, according to Eesti Ekspress and Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat on June 29.

The vessel was identified as Marshal Vasilevsky, a Gazprom LNG tanker that transports liquefied gas from mainland Russia to the Kaliningrad region.

Eesti Ekspress first obtained aerial images taken from an Estonian border guard surveillance aircraft. The photos, reportedly captured in early May, show what appears to be a machine gun mounted on board the Russian vessel.

The images are being described as the first evidence that a Russian civilian tanker may have been armed while operating in the Gulf of Finland.

According to Holger Roonemaa, investigative journalist and editor of the Eesti Ekspress, the weapon may have been installed in case of a Ukrainian UAV attack near ports in the St. Petersburg area, or in case the tanker was stopped or inspected, according to the reports.

If confirmed, the incident would mark a new escalation around Russian civilian shipping in European waters, where Moscow’s tankers, LNG carriers, and shadow fleet vessels are already under growing scrutiny over sanctions evasion, security risks, and links to Russia’s war economy.

The Marshal Vasilevsky is not an ordinary cargo ship. As a Gazprom LNG tanker serving Kaliningrad, it helps maintain energy supply to Russia’s heavily militarized exclave between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

Earlier this month, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a British-flagged yacht in the English Channel. The UK coastguard received reports of the incident from the civilian vessel, which had been sailing close to the Admiral Grigorovich, a frigate of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

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