2 hours ago 
UK MOD
National Crime Agency (NCA) officers person arrested an Indian nationalist connected suspicion of sanctions offences aft the melodramatic seizure of a Russian lipid tanker successful the English Channel connected Sunday.
He was taken into custody for questioning by investigators pursuing the cognition mounted by Royal Marine Commandos on with the NCA.
The NCA said 24 Georgian and Indian unit members remained aboard the Smyrtos, anchored disconnected the Dorset coast.
Sunday's operation, which saw commandos fast-roping from a chopper connected to the tanker, was the archetypal of its benignant carried retired by UK equipped forces.
Russia uses hundreds of lipid tankers sanctioned by the UK and different Western states implicit its penetration of Ukraine.
British sanctions prohibition vessels from this "shadow fleet", arsenic it is known successful the West, from entering UK ports and besides prohibit British firms and individuals from providing financial, security oregon brokerage services to ships that proviso oregon present Russian oil.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) says the UK has sanctioned much than 500 specified ships.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced successful March that British equipped forces were "now capable to committee sanctioned vessels that are passing done our waters".
On Sunday helium said: "This palmy cognition delivers yet different stroke to Russia and reminds those fuelling [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's warfare successful Ukraine that we volition not fto them hide."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the UK for taking an "important measurement against Russia's lipid fleet".
There was nary contiguous effect from Moscow, which has antecedently described akin interceptions arsenic amerciable and "bordering connected planetary piracy".
According to tracking website MarineTraffic, Smyrtos sails nether a Cameroon flag.
It began its travel connected 5 June from Russia's Ust-Luga port, an lipid terminal adjacent St Petersburg, earlier crossing westbound into the transmission connected Saturday, BBC Verify has found.
The vas was sanctioned successful July 2025 and has since changed its sanction from Myrtos to Smyrtos arsenic good arsenic the emblem it sails nether twice.
The MoD said the cognition had happened successful planetary waters arsenic it was much than 12 nautical miles from the UK coast.
It said it had been successful afloat compliance with some home and planetary law.
The interception was the effect of weeks of subject and governmental planning, an MoD spokesperson said.
It was conducted successful adjacent co-ordination with the French, the MoD said, gathering connected caller enactment provided by the UK to its allies.
French President Emmanuel Macron said connected 1 June that his country's subject had intercepted a sanctioned lipid tanker suspected of being portion of the "shadow fleet" with UK support.
A British chopper provided enactment during that operation, the MoD told the BBC.
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