Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The increased military presence does not pose an imminent threat, the navy assures.
Yesterday, the EU decided to impose a fresh round of sanctions aimed at cribbling the Russian oil Interests, Reuters reports.
This is the 19th sanctions package from the EU so far, but Russia has so far been able to circumvent the sanctions, keeping the oil flowing and earning billions to keep the war machine going in Ukraine.
Part of the Russian strategy centers around the so-called Shadow Fleet, which is a clandestine network of hundreds of vessels operated by Russia to evade policing.
And if you doubt how important, these shadow vessels are to Russia, you just have to take a look at how they protect them.
Military operation
Russia has for some time been running what officials describe as a military operation in the Baltic Sea, widely assessed as an effort to safeguard the country’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers.
According to the Swedish Navy, this has involved warships guarding specific maritime zones and reports of uniformed personnel aboard certain vessels operating under opaque ownership structures.
“There is no need to feel any concern about this, but we want to tell you about what is happening at sea,” said the Navy’s Chief of Operations Marko Petkovic to SVT.
Important business
The Swedish Coast Guard has also observed increased Russian naval activity near strategically sensitive offshore areas.
Daniel Stenling, deputy chief of operations at the Coast Guard, said the reports underline how vital the shadow fleet is to Moscow.
“We haven’t seen it ourselves, but we know that this is such an important activity for Russia, so we expect that various security measures have been taken and such things could very well be considered there,” he told SVT.
Guarded waters
Reports about armed personnel on shadow fleet tankers circulated earlier this autumn.
Danish investigative outlet Danwatch cited pilots who described threatening encounters while operating near such ships.
The Swedish Navy now confirms it has received similar information. Petkovic said the personnel observed were uniformed and armed, and are believed to be employed by private security companies.
According to Petkovic, the Swedish Navy have received information and seen for themselves, that there are indeed uniformed personnel abourd som the Russian shadow fleet vessels.
Sources: SVT, Danwatch, Reuters
