{"id":1800222,"date":"2026-03-01T09:59:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T06:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1800222"},"modified":"2026-03-01T09:59:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T06:59:59","slug":"what-is-russias-shadow-fleet-doing-in-the-baltic-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1800222","title":{"rendered":"What is Russia’s shadow fleet doing in the Baltic Sea?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76173894_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/59cLi<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
The tanker Ethera was captured by Belgian and French forces and diverted to Zeebrugge, Belgium, where it was seizedImage: Nicolas Maeterlinck\/BELGA\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken announced that his country’s navy boarded and diverted a vessel believed to be part of Russia<\/a>‘s illicit shadow fleet of oil tankers on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Francken said the ship was being taken to the Belgian<\/a> port of Zeebrugge, where it would be officially seized by Belgian authorities.<\/p>\n

What do we know about Brussel’s capture of the Russia fleet tanker?<\/h2>\n

Francken said the tanker Ethera, captured Sunday by Belgian and French forces,\u00a0was suspected of sailing under “false flag and false documents.”<\/p>\n

“Over the past few hours, \u200bour \u200carmed forces, with the support of the French Defense, have boarded an oil tanker belonging to the \u200cRussian shadow fleet,” Francken wrote in an early morning \u200cpost \u200bon X.<\/p>\n

“The vessel is currently being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized.”<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron also posted a\u00a0video of naval forces commandeering\u00a0the Ethera in the North Sea, calling the successful operation a “major blow” to Russia’s shadow fleet.<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the seizure.<\/p>\n

“We welcome this strong action against Moscow\u2019s floating purse and thank France for supporting the operation,” he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

What is Russia’s so-called shadow fleet?<\/h2>\n

Russia has systematically operated a clandestine network of usually rickety older tankers<\/a> with no clear documentation of ownership to evade international sanctions and export crude oil to nations willing to buy its discounted contraband, propping up its Ukraine invasion<\/a> as its economy melts.<\/p>\n

“Without his shadow fleet \u200bPutin can’t wage \u200cwar against innocent Ukrainians. So we take these vessels out. One by one. Until \u200bhis war \u2060of aggression stops,” Francken wrote, adding that Belgium takes its responsibilities to this end seriously.<\/p>\n

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever also took to X to congratulate the armed forces for “the successful operation last night.” He thanked France in the post, adding that Belgium would, “uphold international maritime law and the security of its territorial waters.”<\/p>\n

Belgium recently faced criticism from EU partners after it opposed the seizure of Russian assets held frozen in Europe to finance loans to Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

De Wever justified his opposition by citing grave concerns over the potential legal and financial consequences facing Belgium should the assets<\/a> \u2014 the largest portion of which (\u20ac180 billion, $213 billion) are held in the country \u2014 be seized.<\/p>\n

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What is Russia’s shadow fleet doing in the Baltic Sea?<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Rana Taha<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken announced that his country’s navy boarded and diverted a vessel believed to be part of Russia<\/a>‘s illicit shadow fleet of oil tankers on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Francken said the ship was being taken to the Belgian<\/a> port of Zeebrugge, where it would be officially seized by Belgian authorities.<\/p>\n

What do we know about Brussel’s capture of the Russia fleet tanker?<\/h2>\n

Francken said the tanker Ethera, captured Sunday by Belgian and French forces,\u00a0was suspected of sailing under “false flag and false documents.”<\/p>\n

“Over the past few hours, \u200bour \u200carmed forces, with the support of the French Defense, have boarded an oil tanker belonging to the \u200cRussian shadow fleet,” Francken wrote in an early morning \u200cpost \u200bon X.<\/p>\n

“The vessel is currently being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized.”<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron also posted a\u00a0video of naval forces commandeering\u00a0the Ethera in the North Sea, calling the successful operation a “major blow” to Russia’s shadow fleet.<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the seizure.<\/p>\n

“We welcome this strong action against Moscow\u2019s floating purse and thank France for supporting the operation,” he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

What is Russia’s so-called shadow fleet?<\/h2>\n

Russia has systematically operated a clandestine network of usually rickety older tankers<\/a> with no clear documentation of ownership to evade international sanctions and export crude oil to nations willing to buy its discounted contraband, propping up its Ukraine invasion<\/a> as its economy melts.<\/p>\n

“Without his shadow fleet \u200bPutin can’t wage \u200cwar against innocent Ukrainians. So we take these vessels out. One by one. Until \u200bhis war \u2060of aggression stops,” Francken wrote, adding that Belgium takes its responsibilities to this end seriously.<\/p>\n

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever also took to X to congratulate the armed forces for “the successful operation last night.” He thanked France in the post, adding that Belgium would, “uphold international maritime law and the security of its territorial waters.”<\/p>\n

Belgium recently faced criticism from EU partners after it opposed the seizure of Russian assets held frozen in Europe to finance loans to Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

De Wever justified his opposition by citing grave concerns over the potential legal and financial consequences facing Belgium should the assets<\/a> \u2014 the largest portion of which (\u20ac180 billion, $213 billion) are held in the country \u2014 be seized.<\/p>\n

\n

What is Russia’s shadow fleet doing in the Baltic Sea?<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Rana Taha<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken announced that his country’s navy boarded and diverted a vessel believed to be part of Russia<\/a>‘s illicit shadow fleet of oil tankers on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Francken said the ship was being taken to the Belgian<\/a> port of Zeebrugge, where it would be officially seized by Belgian authorities.<\/p>\n

Francken said the tanker Ethera, captured Sunday by Belgian and French forces,\u00a0was suspected of sailing under “false flag and false documents.”<\/p>\n

“Over the past few hours, \u200bour \u200carmed forces, with the support of the French Defense, have boarded an oil tanker belonging to the \u200cRussian shadow fleet,” Francken wrote in an early morning \u200cpost \u200bon X.<\/p>\n

“The vessel is currently being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized.”<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron also posted a\u00a0video of naval forces commandeering\u00a0the Ethera in the North Sea, calling the successful operation a “major blow” to Russia’s shadow fleet.<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the seizure.<\/p>\n

“We welcome this strong action against Moscow\u2019s floating purse and thank France for supporting the operation,” he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Russia has systematically operated a clandestine network of usually rickety older tankers<\/a> with no clear documentation of ownership to evade international sanctions and export crude oil to nations willing to buy its discounted contraband, propping up its Ukraine invasion<\/a> as its economy melts.<\/p>\n

“Without his shadow fleet \u200bPutin can’t wage \u200cwar against innocent Ukrainians. So we take these vessels out. One by one. Until \u200bhis war \u2060of aggression stops,” Francken wrote, adding that Belgium takes its responsibilities to this end seriously.<\/p>\n

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever also took to X to congratulate the armed forces for “the successful operation last night.” He thanked France in the post, adding that Belgium would, “uphold international maritime law and the security of its territorial waters.”<\/p>\n

Belgium recently faced criticism from EU partners after it opposed the seizure of Russian assets held frozen in Europe to finance loans to Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

De Wever justified his opposition by citing grave concerns over the potential legal and financial consequences facing Belgium should the assets<\/a> \u2014 the largest portion of which (\u20ac180 billion, $213 billion) are held in the country \u2014 be seized.<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

Edited by: Rana Taha<\/em><\/p>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/belgium-seizes-suspected-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker\/a-76174050″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76173894_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/59cLi The tanker Ethera was captured by Belgian and French forces and diverted to Zeebrugge, Belgium, where it was seizedImage: Nicolas Maeterlinck\/BELGA\/picture alliance Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken announced that his country’s navy boarded and diverted a vessel believed to be part of Russia‘s illicit shadow fleet of oil tankers on Sunday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-1800222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1800222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1800222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1800222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1800222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1800222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1800222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}