Vladimir Putin sent a warship to escort Russian vessels through the English Channel, defying Sir Keir Starmer's threat to seize them. Photo / Getty Images
Vladimir Putin has openly defied Sir Keir Starmer’s threat to seize sanctioned Russian vessels by sending a warship to escort them through the English Channel.
The Admiral Grigorovich, a Black Sea fleet frigate, accompanied a pair of shadow fleet ships on Wednesday (local time) while a British naval vessel followed behind.
Positioned on the Royal Charlotte, a boat 16km from Dover, the Telegraph observed Putin’s flotilla cruising past the south coast while the RFA Tideforce, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker, trailed in their wake.
Last month, Starmer gave special forces the authority to capture the armada of rusted ships illegally ferrying oil to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying he would hit the shadow fleet “even harder” if they sailed through British waters. However, Britain is yet to seize a single Russian vessel.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly faced criticism regarding the state of the Royal Navy and Britain’s Armed Forces. After an Iranian-made drone hit the RAF Akrotiri, the HMS Dragon, Britain’s only deployable destroyer, was sent to the Middle East, but took three weeks to arrive and has already had to return to port as it suffers water supply issues.
In a speech on Saturday (local time), Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to pile further pressure on Starmer, urging him to publish the long-delayed defence investment plan, stating there is “no plan for rearming Britain”.
US President Donald Trump has previously described the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers as “toys” while his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth mocked Britain’s “big, bad Royal Navy”.
The US first stormed a Russian-sanctioned oil tanker in January, prompting pledges from Western nations to seize further ships.
While the French Navy has intercepted some tankers in the Mediterranean, dozens of Russian vessels are believed to have passed through the Channel since Starmer’s threat.
The Admiral Grigorovich – a 3620-tonne frigate armed with anti-ship, cruise and surface-to-air missiles – sailed between the two 182m tankers Universal and Enigma shortly after 9am on Wednesday (local time) as they headed west toward Plymouth.
Universal reportedly departed from the Russian port of Vysotsk on January 18.
The Russian-flagged tanker is believed to be on a mission to deliver crude oil to bolster the Kremlin’s coffers, which are straining to fund Putin’s war machine.
In September, she was outlawed in British waters for attempting to “destabilise Ukraine or undermine or threaten” Kyiv by exporting oil from Russia to fund its invasion.
Meanwhile, the Cameroon-flagged ship the Enigma was bound for Turkey, having left port at Primorsk, north of St Petersburg, on March 29. She was sanctioned by the UK in May last year for pumping money to the Kremlin.
On Wednesday (local time), the Telegraph identified two other sanctioned Russian tankers – the Gambia-flagged Desert Kite and the Kousai from Sierra Leone – sailing through the Channel in the opposite direction, having entered on Tuesday evening (local time).
Andrew Fox, a retired Major in the Parachute Regiment, said the Russians were seeking to humiliate Britain.
“The Russians are desperate to keep that oil flowing and keep the war in Ukraine going,” Fox, a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said. “They are running rings around Starmer right now.
“If we’re really serious about helping Ukraine, we need to clamp down on these shadow fleet ships. That would send a message ... It would embarrass Putin. At the moment, we’re not sending that message.”
Britain’s defence investment plan is still months behind schedule, having missed its autumn due date. It is supposed to outline exactly what will be spent on the military over the next decade.
The delays have led to a paralysis within the defence industry, as companies wait to see if they will be awarded money for critical defence projects.
Badenoch said the delays were a “national scandal” and accused Labour of “having no plan” when it came to delivering promised money to the military.
In his speech to the London Defence Conference, the Conservative leader is expected to say: “There’s no plan for how the Government is going to actually buy the equipment, weapons and munitions. There’s no plan for how to enact the Strategic Defence Review. There’s no plan for rearming Britain.
“We haven’t seen the Defence Investment Plan ... because they have no idea how they are going to pay for it.
“Keir Starmer is all mouth and no trousers when it comes to defence.”
It is believed that Putin’s shadow fleet of 700 vessels carry about 40% of Russia’s oil exports, with 544 ships sanctioned by Britain.
Announcing his clampdown in March, Starmer said: “Putin is rubbing his hands at the war in the Middle East because he thinks higher oil prices will let him line his pockets.
“That’s why we’re going after his shadow fleet even harder, not just keeping Britain safe but starving Putin’s war machine of the dirty profits that fund his barbaric campaign in Ukraine.”
The Prime Minister added: “He and his cronies should be in no doubt, we will always defend our sovereignty and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Under the Government’s plans, the Royal Navy and the National Crime Agency could be deployed to capture the tankers, using a legal justification from sanctions legislation passed in 2018.
Special forces personnel from the Special Boat Service and the Special Air Service (SAS) could potentially seize tankers, should armed guards be seen. The Royal Marines could board vessels that do not pose a danger.
However, Moscow has warned it would retaliate if the military were deployed to seize the ships.
Andrei Kelin, Russia’s ambassador to the UK, said measures were being considered. “This decision will not go unanswered,” he said on Sunday (local time).
“The appropriate measures are being developed. Let this come as a surprise to the British people.”
Kelin also warned Downing Street to “think carefully” about the consequences, including legal ones, of taking action against Russian-linked vessels.
The Prime Minister continues to face criticism from Trump over the speed at which Britain responded to the joint US-Israel attacks against Iran, which have plunged the Middle East into chaos.
Domestically, Labour has been accused of being too complacent when it comes to defence spending, with critics accusing the Government of being slow to unlock billions of pounds to bolster Britain’s military.
Labour is planning to rebrand Starmer as a global statesman in an attempt to avoid wipeout at the local elections next month.
Sources told the Telegraph that Labour was planning to use Starmer’s stance on Iran to argue for him to remain in No 10.
On Wednesday (local time), the first day of the official pre-election period, Starmer travelled to the Middle East to discuss the conflict with regional allies and visit British troops at the King Fahd Air Base in Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Since January, more than 300 ships from Putin’s shadow fleet have sailed through UK waters, according to analysts.
Seizing every ship in the shadow fleet would be impractical for Britain, maritime experts have said.
The authorities would have to commit substantial resources, including troops from either the Royal Marines or the elite Special Boat Service, as well as law enforcement teams.
The vessels would also need to be moored somewhere after being captured and Britain has a limited number of berths in ports capable of holding such large ships, which average about 244m in length.
On March 30, a group of eight outlawed Russian tankers was able to cruise through the Channel unchallenged. It included the Odune, the Vozrozhdeniye, the Thron, the Primorye, the Gelor, the Rizvel, the Manta and the Rimma.
The vessels all passed through the busy waterway just inside French waters, meaning it was unlikely British forces would have been able to board them without approval from Paris first.
Two vessels were flying under Russian flags, while others were flagged to Cameroon and Sierra Leone. Often ships in Putin’s shadow fleet travel under the guise of another country to avoid sanctions.
Last month, Britain allowed one of Putin’s shadow fleet tankers carrying oil to Cuba to pass through the Channel relatively unchallenged.
The sanctioned, state-owned vessel was escorted by a Russian warship and shadowed by the Navy for 48 hours as it navigated British waters.
Britain has previously assisted in tanker-boarding operations, providing intelligence on two illegal Russian tankers in the Mediterranean that were later seized by the French Navy, and using a surveillance plane to support a US operation in the Atlantic to seize another vessel in January.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said it would not comment on ongoing operations.
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