Russian naval ship 'disguised' itself while passing through English Channel

BBC ^ | 06/24/2025 | Ned Davies, Joshua Cheetham & Matt Murphy

[BenLurkin]

A Russian warship disguised itself using a fake ID signal while travelling through the English Channel with two sanctioned oil tankers, a BBC Verify investigation has found.

The Boikiy - a corvette armed with guided missiles - broadcast the fake ID code as it passed through the Channel on Saturday.

On tracking sites it wrongly appeared as ships which have previously used that ID. BBC Verify matched the ID to the Boikiy by using satellite imagery, tracking data and a video of it passing under a bridge in Denmark.

It travelled alongside two vessels known to be part of Russia's "shadow fleet" - a network of tankers whose ownership can be obscured and are used to transport sanctioned oil products.

BBC Verify has approached the Russian embassy in London for comment. But experts told BBC Verify that recent Western moves against the shadow fleet may have prompted Moscow to use its military to protect the tankers.

Last month, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet flew past a shadow fleet vessel and entered Estonian airspace after the country attempted to intercept the ship, which was suspected of carrying sanctioned oil.

"The action seems designed to deter the UK and other Nato states from attempting to board and, or, seize these vessels, since the presence of a military escort heightens the risk of confrontation and further escalation," Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses, said.

Attention was first drawn to the Boikiy on social media by independent open-source intelligence analyst Christian Panton on Bluesky.

The ship is known to have left West Africa in June, where it was taking part in a diplomatic mission. Photos posted online showed the ship docked in Guinea's capital, Conakry.

[BenLurkin]

[Tell It Right]

Disguises are easy. Superman can hide behind a pair of glasses.

[1Old Pro]

I’ll bet the crew all wanted some shore leave.

[rktman]

Early ‘68 we went through the Straits of Gibraltar at night with party lights and music cranked up. Yeah, we were a cruise boat. Righhhhhhht!

[DesertRhino]

They have a right to pass through the English Channel. And those idiot brats would’ve tried to interfere with tankers that they call sanctioned. But those tankers have no obligation to obey western sanctioning rules. It just means they can’t go into British or western ports, or by insurance from a western company. So basically, this is an anti-pirate patrol

[Openurmind]

And I am pretty sure this is where the term False Flag came from...

[doorgunner69]

The Russians have always built great looking ships.

[Who is John Galt?]

The Russians have always built great looking ships.

They've built a few oddballs, like the Novgorod:

;^)

[faithhopecharity]

nice looking ship.
it doesn’t seem like the disguising worked very well if we are all reading articles about it and looking at pictures of it

[BenLurkin]

drachnifel russian navy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFXgq8CXa9Y&list=PLJ-HDXBH3x4uEU1_5jDvz8ghby2HFSH4B

[ro_dreaming]

https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/stargazing/article66871212.html

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDBit1wA5kb/

Henry Cavill wore a “Superman” T-Shirt, glasses, and stood under a giant Superman movie poster in Time Square and wasn’t recognized.

[higgmeister]

This is silly.   In 1978, the USN tracked every Soviet vessel on and under the sea within 20 feet.   This ship might have fooled some, but not those with the need to know.