Starmer finally sends in the Marines against Russia’s shadow fleet, at a very convenient moment

Not another line about defence spending or about defence ministers fleeing the government. Not another carefully worded statement about standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Not another promise that Britain will “go after” Russia’s shadow fleet at some undefined point in the future.

This time, there were helicopters. Warships. Royal Marines fast-roping on to a sanctioned tanker in the Channel. A Russian shadow fleet vessel being boarded in the early hours of the morning.

And, thankfully for a Prime Minister under serious pressure over defence, a full Royal Navy combat camera team just happened to be there to capture the action. And luckily they got on the ship before the Royal Marines stormed it so they could capture all the action, for Keir Starmer to then post on his TikTok.

The footage is slick. It is dramatic. It is exactly the sort of thing No 10 wants people to see at a moment when Starmer is being accused of not taking defence seriously enough.

Here is Britain acting. Here is Britain leading. Here is Britain, finally, putting hands on one of the ships helping fund Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

And to be clear, the Royal Marines involved deserve every bit of praise they are getting. These are hard, dangerous operations. Boarding a large vessel at sea, in darkness, with law enforcement officers alongside you, is not theatre for the people doing it. It requires nerve, skill and professionalism.

The problem is not the Marines. The problem is the politics wrapped around them. Because only a short time ago, when LBC asked ministers how many Russian shadow fleet tankers Britain had actually interdicted, the answer was none.

That matters because this was not some abstract policy argument. In March, Keir Starmer said Britain would take action against these vessels. Ukraine has been pleading with allies to do more. The Government has sanctioned hundreds of ships. Ministers have talked tough about choking off the money that keeps Putin’s war in Ukraine moving.

But month after month, sanctioned vessels continued to pass through British waters.

In the month after the Prime Minister’s announcement, at least 98 sanctioned ships travelled through UK waters. Some passed within 12 nautical miles of the English Channel coastline. Others moved through Britain’s wider exclusive economic zone.

And until now, there had been no public sign of Britain boarding or detaining them.

So yes, the weekend’s operation matters. It is a real action, not just a press release. It sends a signal to Moscow and to the ship owners, insurers and middlemen who have grown comfortable exploiting the grey space between sanctions law and enforcement.

But one raid does not fix the major problem here. Russia’s shadow fleet is not a minor loophole. It is one of the main ways Moscow keeps selling oil despite sanctions. These ships are often old, badly insured, obscurely owned and deliberately difficult to track. They’re not just an economic threat. They are an environmental risk, a security risk and a test of Western seriousness.

The Channel is one of the busiest sea lanes in the world. Northern waters are full of critical cables and infrastructure. These vessels do not pass through a vacuum. They move through places Britain has to protect.

And this is where the Government’s problem becomes obvious. Britain wants to look muscular on defence, but the machinery behind that image is badly strained.

The Royal Navy is smaller than it has been for centuries. It is being asked to watch Russian submarines, protect undersea cables, support Ukraine, reassure NATO allies, patrol global trade routes, respond to the Middle East, and now help enforce sanctions against Putin’s oil network.

At the same time, ministers are under fire over defence spending, procurement delays, hollowed-out forces, legal worries hanging over veterans and a Defence Investment Plan that has already triggered serious political fallout.

Then suddenly, up pops the Prime Minister with dramatic footage of commandos storming a tanker. You can see why people might be cynical.

Because Britain cannot combat-camera its way out of a defence crisis.

A well-shot video of Royal Marines doing their job does not answer why so many vessels were allowed to pass before this one was stopped. It does not answer why allies such as France appeared willing to move faster. It does not answer why LBC’s reporting found so little enforcement action despite years of sanctions pressure.

And it does not answer the fundamental question: is this the start of a serious, sustained campaign, or a one-off show of strength at a politically convenient moment?

If Britain is serious, this should not be the last time a sanctioned tanker captain looks up and sees British personnel coming aboard. There should be a clear enforcement pattern. More boardings. More detentions where the law allows. More consequences for those moving Russian oil through British waters. More pressure on the shipping networks, insurance structures and financial systems that make the whole thing possible.

Because the Russians will be watching. So will the ship owners. So will Ukraine. So will every hostile state wondering whether Britain’s warnings still mean something.

Sir Keir Starmer is right to say this operation delivered a blow to Russia. It did. President Zelenskyy is right to thank the UK for it. He should.

But the uncomfortable truth is that this should have happened sooner.

For too long, Britain’s sanctions regime has looked tougher on paper than it has at sea. The Government has been good at announcing measures. It has been less convincing at showing what happens when those measures are tested.

Now we have seen the Marines go in. Great.

But the country needs more than footage. It needs a defence policy that is properly funded, properly enforced and honest about the threat we face.

Otherwise, this risks becoming exactly what Downing Street insists it is not: a very impressive video sitting on top of a much weaker reality.

But, maybe it didn’t take the Government four months to find the political will. Maybe it took them four months to find a Royal Navy ship the Marines could actually stage from, given how few we now have available…

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