Rules Based Piracy
Sat 8:05 am +00:00, 27 Jun 2026
Itapirkanmaa2
Rules-based piracy. This will call for more red lines surely from Putin.
“The Telegraph: London wants to sell Russian oil from the Smyrtos tanker and transfer the money to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine
It’s about 98 thousand tons of Russian Urals oil worth about $46.2 million, according to the author of the article. The Smyrtos ship was seized by British marines on June 14 on suspicion of violating the sanctions regime.
“After the detention, the ship was anchored off the coast of Weymouth under the control of the Ministry of Defense. The captain, an Indian citizen, Ajay Pant, was charged with evading sanctions,” the author of the article writes.
Sources in the British government told The Telegraph that after the investigation is completed, the ship will likely be released, but the oil cargo, according to officials, has already become the property of the UK. Ministers are already considering its sale and transfer of funds to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“98,000 tons of Urals oil on board the ship are now legally owned by the UK and can be used or sold by the British government. It is assumed that ministers are considering proposals to sell the oil, the market value of which is about 35 million pounds sterling [$46.2 million], and use the proceeds to finance military operations in Ukraine.”
A final decision has not yet been made, and the initiative is at an early stage of discussion.”
