One of Vladimir Putin's closest allies has told Britain to back off or face the consequences at sea. The warning, directed squarely at London, Paris, and the Baltic states, represents the most explicit Russian threat of naval confrontation with Europe since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began nearly four years ago.
Nikolai Patrushev, a former FSB director who now chairs Russia's Maritime Board, accused Western nations of 'piracy-like attacks' on Russian merchant ships and warned that Moscow's patience is running thin.
'By implementing their naval blockade plans, the Europeans are deliberately pursuing a scenario of military escalation, testing the limits of our patience and provoking active retaliatory measures,' Patrushev said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty published on Tuesday,according to Reuters. 'If a peaceful resolution to this situation fails, the blockade will be broken and eliminated by the navy.'
'If we do not resist decisively, the English, the French, and even the Balts will soon be so bold as to try to block access to the seas for our country, at least in the Atlantic basin,' he warned,Al Jazeera reported.
Russia's shipping industry has come under growing pressure from Western governments targeting Moscow's so-called 'shadow fleet' - an estimated 1,500 ageing tankers that help export Russian crude while dodging sanctions. The EU has blacklisted 598 vessels.
Patrushev dismissed the label as 'a legal fiction' and warned Moscow could inspect European commercial vessels in return. 'Let's not forget that many ships sail the seas under European flags. We, too, may take an interest in what they are carrying.'
The threats follow a string of tanker seizures. In early January,US special forces seized the Russian-flagged tanker Marinerain the North Atlantic after aweeks-long pursuit. Britain played a supporting role, deploying an RAF surveillance aircraft during the operation. The vessel was brought into Scottish waters at Moray Firth for resupply,the Maritime Executive reported. Russia called it 'maritime piracy.'
On 22 January, the French Navy boarded a tanker named Grinch in the Mediterranean on suspicion of shadow fleet activity. Macron publicised the operation as a strike against Russia's war effort. Its owner paid a multimillion-euro fine before Tuesday's release.
French Foreign MinisterJean-Noël Barrotwrote on X, 'Circumventing European sanctions comes at a price. Russia will no longer be able to finance its war with impunity through a ghost fleet off our coasts.'
Patrushev is not someone who makes idle threats. He served alongside Putin in the KGB, ran the FSB from 1999 to 2008, then held the Security Council secretary post until 2024. He is widely regarded as a key architect of theCrimea annexationand the full-scale Ukraine invasion.
Source: International Business Times UK
