Kremlin mouthpiece says Russia should ‘rig oil tankers with bombs’ after ship intercepted off UK coast

Sir Keir Starmer authorised an interception of a Russian tanker today (Picture: PA)

Russia has threatened to mine its sanctions-busting tankers and trigger explosions if they are seized again by British forces.

Earlier today, Sir Keir Starmer said he authorised the interception of the Russian vessel ‘SMYRTOS’ by the Royal Marines. 

The vessel had been seized after leaving the oil-exporting port of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea on June 1.  

Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitry Rogozin, a senator and former Russian representative to NATO, called for Russia to mine its shadow fleet tankers and trigger explosions if the Royal Navy seizes the vessels.

‘We need to mine the tankers we use,’ he said, suggesting the bombs be set off if tankers deviate from their routes and reach a foreign port.

‘If a couple of explosions happen under their noses with oil spills and related environmental consequences, they’ll soon change their minds,’ he added.

The oil tanker was boarded by the Royal Navy today (Picture: PA)

Rogozin said Britain had gone back to the 16th to 18th centuries, when it  ‘actively used pirates in the service of the crown for its political and economic interests. ‘

Rogozin added: ‘These pirates received ‘privateer’s patents’ from the state, which allowed them to plunder ships and colonies of England’s enemies.

‘This helped to weaken rivals – primarily Spain –  disrupt their trade, and expand British colonies. Everything new is just the well-forgotten old.’

After being raided today, the SMYRTOS vessel will be provisionally anchored off the English south coast and monitored, a joint statement by the Prime Minister, Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis and the Ministry of Defence said.

Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ carries 75% of the country’s sanctioned oil, according to the MoD, and operates under obscure ownership as a way of getting around international sanctions.

Despite this, the UK has sanctioned more than 500 of its 700 vessels.

Today’s operation was supported by the Maritime Air Group, an RAF P-8 aircraft, HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.

In another operation on June 1, the country intercepted a sanctioned oil tanker suspected of being part of the shadow fleet with UK support.

Speaking on Sky News this morning, Lisa Nandy said: ‘One of the instructions the prime minister gave early on was that he wanted us to be on the front foot, taking that decisive action in order to keep the country safe and deal with the threat posed by Russia.

‘This morning, we’ve been able to successfully do that. I want to pay tribute to all the Navy officers involved in that; it is no small achievement, but it is also a significant blow to the Russians.’

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