Putin ‘rubbing his hands’ as LBC uncovers failure to crack down on Russian shadow fleet
Warnings come after the Government lifted some sanctions on Russian oil products on Wednesday in response to spiralling prices due to the war in Iran.
The Government has been accused of failing to properly enforce sanctions on Russian oil after Treasury figures obtained exclusively by LBC revealed almost every investigation into suspected maritime breaches ended with no further action.
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Despite experts warning that hundreds of vessels carrying Russian oil continue to sail through UK waters every year, with some accompanied by Russian warships, the Treasury has only completed 70 investigations since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Of those, two resulted in warning letters, while the remaining 68 resulted in no further action. The Treasury did not respond to LBC’s request for comment.
The investigations related to vessels, shipping companies, insurers or other parties suspected of links to the export of Russian oil products.
The UK’s maritime Russian oil sanctions regime, introduced in December 2022, was designed to choke off the Kremlin’s main source of funding for the war against Ukraine by restricting the shipping, insurance and transport of Russian oil.
But prominent anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder told LBC the findings showed there were “no consequences” for those who breached the sanctions.
Read more: Inside Putin’s digital prison: How Russia uses phones, fear and informants to crush occupied Ukraine
Mr Browder, a former investor in Russia, was barred from the country after he uncovered a multi-million-pound Kremlin-linked corruption scandal with his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who was later detained and died in a Russian prison.
He told LBC: “It doesn’t surprise me. The only thing that stops (Russia) is real consequences, and it doesn’t sound like there are any at all here.”
“If they’re not getting into trouble, it just means they carry on and try to do more of the same.
“It's just them continuing to test us in every possible way to see when. When enough is enough. And so far, they can do pretty much everything without any proper reaction.
“We should intervene and impound the ships as they sail in our waters and prosecute the individuals involved. If that were to happen, they would no longer be moving around the UK.”
The findings have also provoked the ire of some of the UK’s Ukrainian allies.
Oksana Kuzan, head of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre, a think tank, warned the lack of enforcement action meant Russia’s shadow fleet effectively faced “no deterrent.”
She warned the West’s response risked becoming “largely declaratory in nature”.
She said the shadow fleet, believed to number more than a thousand ageing vessels globally, posed growing environmental and security risks because many ships use spoofed or disabled tracking systems while transporting Russian oil through crowded sea routes, including the English Channel.
The warnings come after the Government lifted some sanctions on Russian oil products on Wednesday in response to spiralling prices due to the war in Iran.
Russia expert and former NATO official John Lough said the Kremlin would interpret the decision as a “retreat”, adding that “the Russians will be rubbing their hands.”
After drawing up plans for the Royal Navy and SBS to seize Russian shadow fleet tankers in UK waters in March, it’s thought the Government is yet to have ordered any known interdictions because of legal concerns and fears of retaliation from Moscow.
In the month following the announcement alone, nearly 100 suspected shadow vessels reportedly crossed through UK waters, with some accompanied by Russian warships.
Mr Lough added: “The British government’s rhetoric simply hasn't been matched by action.
“There doesn't seem to be much appetite for confronting these vessels at sea and taking them into port.
“(LBC’s figures) are a perfect illustration of the problem. We either don't have the resources, or we don't have the will, or it's a case of both.”