Putin Calls UK Tanker Seizure “Piracy,” While Threatening to Do the Same

The UK has defended its seizure of a sanctioned Russian "shadow fleet" oil tanker in the English Channel, after the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, threatened to "respond in kind."

The dispute over the tanker Smyrtos was reported by the BBC on August 13.

Royal Marines Commandos intercepted and boarded the vessel in June, in a first-of-its-kind British operation to disrupt a sanctioned ship.

The tanker has since been anchored off Weymouth in southern England, and its captain, Ajay Pant, has been charged with breaching Russian sanctions, accused of directly or indirectly supplying prohibited Russian oil.

Speaking on August 12 as he oversaw Russian navy drills in the Pacific Ocean, Putin scolded Western states for "seizing our vessels" and branded such action "nothing other than piracy and banditry."

He warned: "If these plans are put into practice, we will have to respond in kind," and emphasized that any retaliation would extend beyond the waters where Russian ships were seized. Moscow's response, Putin added, according to TASS, "will happen wherever we deem it necessary and appropriate."

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Putin Threatens to Seize European Ships “Wherever” Russia Deems Necessary

Aug 12, 2026 13:11

The Russian leader added that Moscow could retaliate "wherever we deem it necessary and appropriate, anywhere," and not only in the waters where raids were planned.

Viktor Liina, commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet, accused Britain and France of operating their own shadow fleets. He claimed Moscow had the capacity to inspect and detain vessels belonging to "unfriendly states," with interagency cooperation ready to act.

Western nations allege Russia operates a shadow fleet of hundreds of aging tankers to evade sanctions on its oil exports, using opaque ownership structures to mask the origin of their cargo.

Many of those measures followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The UK Ministry of Defense puts the fleet at more than 700 vessels carrying 75% of the country's sanctioned oil, describing that trade as a "critical lifeline for the Kremlin."

In response to Putin's comments, the UK government stated that British forces and law-enforcement officers had boarded the Smyrtos "in full accordance with international law."

A government spokesperson emphasized that the country's armed forces and commercial vessels operated in line with international maritime law, unlike Russia's fleet.

The Smyrtos remains detained near Weymouth, the BBC reported, and 22 of its original 25 crew members were repatriated in July.

Britain's action forms part of a widening European campaign against the shadow fleet, pressure that the European Union has recently intensified.

France has intercepted a series of suspected vessels, seizing its fourth such tanker since September and briefly detaining one Russian captain before releasing him to allow a complex investigation to proceed.

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