Posted on 06/14/2026 8:59:57 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Royal Marine Commandos have boarded a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Marines, joined by National Crime Agency officers, with the support of the RAF, intercepted and boarded the vessel in a six-hour operation - the first operation of its kind by UK armed forces.
The vessel, Smyrtos, will be held and monitored off the south coast of England as investigations continue, the MoD said.
Sir Keir Starmer said: "This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling Putin's war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide."
There was no immediate response from Moscow, which has previously described similar interceptions as illegal and "bordering on international piracy".
In video footage shared by the MoD, armed personnel can be seen boarding the vessel by fast-roping from a helicopter.
Further videos show them conducting searches of cabins aboard the vessel, while officers from the NCA inspect paperwork.
Russia has been operating a "shadow fleet" of tankers to evade international sanctions imposed on its oil exports.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
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Meanwhile 10,000 “doctors and engineers” crossed the Channel.
So, the F@#$wits in charge of Britain’s collapse can spend 6 hours raiding a real ship but cannot stop dinghies with criminals on board.
South Africa used to be a formidable military power.
+1 You nailed it.
On the other hand, letting hundreds of these boats slip through…

But what do I know? Starmer has a fancy “Sir” royal title at the front of his name.
Me? I once came in third in a Prom King vote. But that probably doesn’t even count.
BBC shilling for Labour. Yeah we are supposed to be impressed with marines boarding an unarmed tanker while thousands of savages invade England on small boats every month.
If the UK insists on commiting piracy; why don’t they use the tens of thousands of pirates they are busy importing to accomplish this task?
all the while, tens of thousands of young, fighting-age Islamicist men, aka terrorists or prime terrorist candidates, are still being let, or welcomed into UK (where the Ruling Elite then forces working Brits to support these wonderful “immigrants” in council housing and free grub and free education and free medical care (for what its worth) and all the rest of the famous British social welfare system
The British Ruling Elite’s sold the country out.
Period.
stopping a Russian vessel isn’t changing that disaster one whit.
You whine about “piracy” against Russia, yet you say squat when Russia kidnaps Ukrainian children
Typical BorisBot hypocrite
Seems to me like Starmer is trying to have his military mimic the successful US Navy and Marines operations. Starmer is trying to look like a tough guy. Barf!
And the UK has been violating the sanctions on Russian energy all along.
UK vows to phase out Russian diesel and jet fuel imports by new year
UK to set end date for imports of Russian diesel and jet fuel via third countries
Okaaaaay...
This is the modern day privateer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZm4LtD9vw8
We are boarding these ships because we give ourselves the right to do so.
Might makes right.
The Russians do not have the Navy and power to push back, so we do what we want. All awhile we strill up the masses with some fantasy about Putin wanting to rebuild the Soviet Union and planning on invading Western Europe, bla bla bla.
These ships belong to someone else.
The property on the ships belongs to someone else.
They are in international waters usually.
So what are we doing that is different than some Somali pirate?
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