Hamstrung Royal Navy 'left unable to board Russian ships over fears of breaching international law'

Dan McDonald
Thu, 09 Apr 2026 23:59:21 +0000

The Government has failed to send the Royal Navy in to intercept sanctioned Russian tankers "over concerns it may breach international law".

On Wednesday, Moscow sent a warship to escort two vessels through the English Channel - despite Sir Keir Starmer pledging to hit Vladimir Putin's shadow fleet "even harder".

Just weeks ago, the Prime Minister gave the green light for Britain's special forces to be able to capture two sanctioned Russian tankers.

The Government was said to have determined a "legal basis" for how to do this.

Attorney General Lord Hermer had handed the Government advice on how to block the shadow fleet from sailing through British waters to disrupt Russian oil from reaching its allies, it was revealed last night.

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Lord Hermer advised Sir Keir that the tankers could be boarded by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and special forces.

However, the Royal Navy has not seized a single vessel over fears such a move would breach international maritime law.

Each operation must be legally justified with evidence the ship has evaded sanctions placed on it by the Government.

On Thursday, Defence Secretary John Healey revealed a covert Russian operation threatening vitial British energy cables and issued a stark message to Mr Putin: "We see you."

He added: "We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences."

Mr Healey admitted there was “more we can do” to halt the shadow fleet, but insisted Britain was "ready".

He said: "We have the military options, and we’re ready to take action, not just in support of but actually with allies, to interdict shadow fleet vessels.”

But just hours later, Moscow sailed three more vessels through the Channel without any intervention from Britain.

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After the two sanctioned vessels made their way through British waters on Wednesday, it has been revealed that a Royal Navy vessel kept its distance and simply monitored the ship.

Crucial supplies and spare parts for Mr Putin's armed forces are feared to have been aboard one of the tankers, The i Paper has reported.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir's "pathetic" response, saying the Russian leader is "laughing at us".

He wrote in The Telegraph that seizing the vessels would claw back “some of the respect Britain has lost recently” over its response to the conflict in the Middle East.

Mr Johnson fumed: “I think it’s pathetic. I don’t know why we don’t board these sanction-busting ships.

"They are fuelling Putin’s war machine and funding his slaughter of innocent Ukrainians and we have a golden opportunity to stop it.

“I think if we did, it would do a lot to recover some of the respect Britain has lost recently for our inability to defend our friends in the Gulf and use our bases in Cyprus.

“This is not the fault of the Armed Forces - it’s the abysmal leadership of the Government.”

GB News has approached the Attorney General's Office for comment.