The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, arriving aboard the missile cruiser Varyag, made a resounding statement: that Russia will respond harshly yet proportionally to the seizure of its ships in seas and oceans across the planet, as highlighted on August 13 by the Russian media outlet Tsargrad.
NATO reached not merely a «red line», but a point of mortal danger.
The visit of the Kremlin strongman to the Russian Far East signaled, as a result, something major...
The Russian general staff has locked 379 NATO targets in global waters across an unprecedented maritime range worldwide.
The first target will be provocative Britain, as high-ranking officials from Moscow characteristically state...
21st-century pirates with the British at the... forefront
Thus, on June 14, Britain decided to return to maritime piracy.
Its special forces seized the Smyrtos, a tanker belonging to Russia's «shadow fleet», in the English Channel.
On June 25, it was announced that the oil it was carrying would be sold, with the proceeds directed toward military aid for Ukraine.
It was a test move.
Until June 14, NATO countries carried out serial boarding actions against ships belonging to what they considered Moscow's «shadow fleet», but released them after a fine and a certain delay.
It did not constitute piracy.
As usual, Russia's reaction was being tested.
And subsequently, since obviously none followed, the next bold step was taken.
Britain announced it would sell the 100,000 tons of oil seized on the Smyrtos, valued at 35 million pounds on the exchange.
A perfect robbery on the seas with an institutional veil
And on July 24, the European Union legalized this piratical practice and included it in the 21st sanctions package against Russia.
This applies not only to oil, but also to the seizure of other transported goods, such as liquefied natural gas.
Let it be explained in simple terms what exactly happened.
Rejecting cheap energy supplies from Russia and including them in sanctions packages, Europe shot itself in the foot and turned to expensive alternatives.
In other words, it dealt a blow to its economy.
But that was only half the problem.
In 2026, US aggression against Iran led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
As a result, Europe also stopped receiving oil from the Middle East.
And this was a real blow to its member countries.
In this critical situation, Europeans came up with a simple and «clever» solution: rob the Russians! Having stopped buying Russian energy resources, they decided to take them for free.
Under the pretext of combating «aggression against Ukraine».
This constitutes a very bad precedent for Russia.
The European Union is simply spiraling out of control.
It is time for it to stop!
And this time there was indeed a real, «proper» reaction from the Russian side.
Russia's patience exhausted
Already on July 26, in a meeting with fleet commanders, Vladimir Putin called on them to respond more decisively to attempts to seize commercial vessels.
The European Union ignored this «signal»: on August 2, Italian forces detained the tanker Toa Payoh, also linked to the Russian «shadow fleet», and conducted an inspection.
No oil seizures were reported.
But such delays entail financial costs in themselves: they waste time, create risks, increase chartering expenses, etc.
Subsequently, on August 6, it became known that Sweden decided to hand over to Ukraine the tanker Caffa, which had been seized in March en route to St. Petersburg.
And so, on August 12, Vladimir Putin, aboard the cruiser Varyag, stated that Russia will also initiate such actions:
«We see that the authorities of certain countries, violating international maritime law, attempt to restrict the movement of vessels of our economic operators — peaceful ones, I emphasize. And recently, they even entertained the idea of seizing our ships and selling the property stolen from us. This, of course, is nothing short of piracy and robbery. If this is implemented, we will be forced to respond in the same manner. Not only in these waters, but in any other place... Wherever we deem it necessary and appropriate, including the area of responsibility of the Pacific Fleet».
Putin inaugurated the... opening of hunting season in global waters
In other words, if the British sell oil from the tanker Smyrtos or if the Swedes hand over the tanker Caffa to Ukraine, the inspection and detention of Western ships will finally be observed.
After all, Russia's enemies also make full use of their own «shadow fleet».
Western countries actively use ships under third-country flags to transport cargo for their own purposes.
Essentially, this is their own «shadow fleet».
Russia possesses the capability to inspect and detain ships of unfriendly states, their «shadow fleet».
Inter-agency cooperation is in effect.
The Russian general staff is ready to begin countering these challenges, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Viktor Liina, reported to Putin.
It is significant that these statements were made in the Far East.
There, Russia has greater opportunities to «hunt» enemy shadow ships.
The Russian fleet is not surrounded by hostile naval forces there, as is the case in the Baltic.
Maritime traffic there is also intense.
Moscow possesses maritime allies there — China and North Korea.
It is no coincidence that a new phase of Russian–North Korean military cooperation recently began.
Zelensky and Ukrainian intelligence services constantly report the deployment of a North Korean missile unit near Voronezh, that Pyongyang receives «permits and military tools» from Moscow, builds its experience in modern warfare, and intends to apply it in the Asia-Pacific region.
And recently, North Korea announced the testing of high-precision cruise missiles equipped with artificial intelligence.
The collapse of global navigation and the closure of the Straits
Recently, the global shipping landscape is changing radically and the map is being redrawn.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the imposition of transit fees by Iran for passing through it, the closure of another major maritime artery by the Houthis — the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — to Saudi ships, China's announcement of the launch of the first regular container line via the Arctic along Russia's Northern Sea Route, and the escalation of the air war between Russia and Ukraine, which has blocked navigation in the Black Sea — all these constitute fundamental changes.
And if large-scale detentions of ships begin, the world will quickly slide into a nuclear confrontation.
No one should be under any illusions: the Russian fleet, in terms of total number of ships, is much weaker than that of NATO.
The enemy will «slow down» far more Russian civilian ships, causing Russia greater damage than it suffers itself.
The only way to overcome their maneuvers is launching missile strikes against their ships and ports.
And this is the surest path toward major escalation.
And Russia is deliberately raising the stakes.
British fear, American double-dealing, and the Russians' «double axe»
While Russia previously resorted to the services of a «shadow fleet» — carrying cargo under foreign flags — now it has decided to change tactics: it is reflagging tankers and bulk carriers under the Russian flag (a presidential decree accelerating this process is currently under final approvals), while simultaneously placing armed guards on ships and organizing military escorts in key straits.
And the first results are already visible.
Britain stated that it would like to resume dialogue with Russia «at a high military level» to reduce the risks of «unintentional escalation».
The occasion for this was reportedly the June incident, when the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots in the English Channel.
As always under Trump, the USA acted hypocritically: on June 11 (the same day Russia made another gesture of goodwill by unilaterally releasing US Marine Robert Gilman, who was serving a sentence in a Russian prison for causing an incident on a train), it was revealed that the USA had sold two Russian-flagged tankers, the Era and Lileo, which had been seized in January.
They were sold secretly to a Dubai company for scrap.
In reality, according to Marine Traffic, a vessel tracking service, both tankers are currently transporting Venezuelan oil.
This is obviously in the interest of the USA.
«The Russians locked 379 targets» - Shivers across Europe with Putin's warning on sinking NATO ships
In turn, military journalist Alexander Kots commented on Putin's visit to the Varyag, noting that the statements of the head of the Russian Federation and the commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet contain a direct warning to the West.
«Admiral Viktor Liina admitted that Russia faces a series of severe challenges in the region, including a rapidly militarizing Japan, NATO, and the AUKUS alliance (Australia-Britain-United States).
The Commander of the Pacific Fleet reported that the fleet conducted a detailed analysis of maritime traffic in the Asia-Pacific region.
From April 24 to August 6, 2026, 1,001 ships passed through the southern Kurils exclusively within Russia's exclusive economic zone.
Of these, 379 flew flags of unfriendly states, including 273 dry cargo carriers and 71 tankers», notes Kots.
He adds that Putin, for his part, recalled that authorities of certain countries, in violation of International Law of the Sea, attempt to restrict the movement of peaceful ships belonging to Russia's economic operators.
And recently, they openly discuss the possibility of seizing commercial vessels and selling the looted property.
The Russians' geographical advantage - «Britain cannot send destroyers to the Far East»
«The fleet commander spent almost four months preparing his report. During this period, intelligence services of the Pacific Fleet were monitoring maritime traffic near the Southern Kuril Islands on a 24-hour basis, which is quite dense there, listening to radio traffic, identifying ships belonging to the potential enemy's "shadow fleet" and adding them to intelligence reports, meticulously logging every potential target. So that the president and the fleet commander could issue a direct warning to the West today, figures in hand. Two can play pirates», states the war correspondent.
Expanding his reasoning, he emphasizes that Russia has the advantage of its extensive maritime borders and exclusive economic zone, within which «we can inspect whomever we want».
Many commercial routes pass through it, used, among others, by ships from unfriendly states.
According to him, another ally of Russia is the distance between Europe and the Far East.
He doubts that the British would send six of their destroyers to the other side of the world to protect bulk carriers.
Geography, he believes, could give Russia a strategic advantage, as Iran has successfully demonstrated over the last six months.
Many were outraged by the fact that Russia «was not responding in any way» to the arrests of its ships.
Here is the response.
It is balanced, considered, and well documented.
For the time being, however, it is merely a warning, concludes the journalist.
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