UK Gives Military Green Light to Board Russian Shadow Fleet Tankers

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted to starve ‘Putin’s war machine of the dirty profits that fund his barbaric campaign in Ukraine.’

A French navy boat monitors the alleged shadow fleet oil tanker Grinch, in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, near Martigues, France, on Jan. 25, 2026. Manon Cruz/Reuters

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has given the military permission to board ships that make up Russia’s shadow fleet if they are passing through UK waters, including the English Channel.

In a statement published on March 25, the British government said Starmer “has agreed that the UK armed forces and law enforcement officers will now be able to interdict vessels that have been sanctioned by the UK and are transiting through UK waters.”