The European Union and the United Kingdom responded forcefully to a Russian jet’s protection of a shadow fleet ship being checked by Estonian naval forces in May 2025, imposing new sanctions aimed at damaging the illicit trafficking of Russian oil and gas in the Baltic Sea. Above, an oil tanker is moored in Novorossiysk, Russia, in 2022. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE WATCH STAFF
NATO members in May 2025 penalized Russia for a sending a warplane into the alliance’s airspace near Estonia to protect an aging tanker that forms part of its “shadow fleet” of oil and gas tankers evading international sanctions. The European Union (EU) responded to the latest provocations by adopting tougher responses to Russian state-sponsored sabotage and illegal shipping in the increasingly contested Baltic Sea region, slapping additional sanctions on Moscow.
On May 13, after Estonian naval forces tried to stop a shadow fleet vessel known as Jaguar, a Russian Su-35 warplane buzzed the ships and flew briefly into Estonian airspace, the Estonian government said. A week later on May 20, Polish naval forces confronted another shadow fleet tanker navigating suspiciously in its Baltic Sea waters, prompting it to retreat to a Russian port.
There have been multiple incidents over the past year when Russian-linked shadow fleet vessels have damaged undersea cables and other critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The Nordic and Baltic member states of NATO have voiced alarm over Russia’s actions, which have escalated as its war in Ukraine has dragged on for more than three years. The so-called shadow fleet allows Russia to sell its oil and gas to China and other countries in violation of sanctions imposed by Western countries after the war began in 2022.
The Russian warplane’s protection of the Jaguar is proof that the aging, unsafe vessels are linked to Moscow, Estonian officials said. “This is something very new,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said during a news conference at the NATO meeting in Turkey in May 2025, adding that the Kremlin “officially tied and connected itself” to the shadow fleet, which number several hundred vessels, according to media reports.
The Jaguar refused to obey orders when the Estonian Navy tried to check its paperwork, Estonian officials said. The vessel was followed by Estonian naval ships and aircraft monitoring its potential threat to undersea electricity cables. The Jaguar, which has been sanctioned by the United Kingdom for ferrying contraband, entered Estonia’s exclusive economic zone without a flag. “We responded in the proper way,” Tsahkna said at the NATO meeting. “What is different and important is that the Russian Federation sent a fighter jet to check the situation.”
The incident alarmed Estonia’s Baltic neighbor, Lithuania, which is also concerned about Russian aggression in its territory and the possibility of an escalation that could accelerate quickly into a major crisis. “The likelihood of a serious escalation is increasing with each step” after the Russian jet entered NATO airspace, “signaling that such tankers in the Baltic Sea are being protected by Russian military forces,” Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said, according to Bloomberg News.
This would be an alarming development, especially since Russia-linked vessels are suspected in a number of recent instances of sabotage to underwater cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Indeed, during the May 20 incident, a Polish maritime patrol plane chased away a shadow fleet vessel that had been performing “suspicious maneuvers” near an undersea cable connecting Poland and Sweden. Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the Polish navy’s ORP Heweliusz sailed to the scene to investigate further. Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised his nation’s response, saying it had effectively deterred a Russian threat. “This shows how dangerous the times we live in are, how serious the situation in the Baltic Sea is,” Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters.
The EU sanctions target individuals and companies involved in the shadow fleet that allow it to operate, including insurers, in Hong Kong, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates.
The U.K. issued a parallel set of sanctions targeting entities supporting Russia’s military, energy exports and information war, as well as banks, which are involved in the Ukrainian war. British officials said they will also sanction 18 more ships in the shadow fleet carrying Russian oil. “Putin’s latest strikes once again show his true colors as a warmonger,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said, according to ABC News. “We urge him to agree to a full, unconditional ceasefire right away so there can be talks on a just and lasting peace.”