President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of using the illicit tankers in its “shadow fleet” for intelligence gathering and sabotage operations against Europe,
Independent reports.
“Russians are utilising tankers of their ‘shadow fleet’ – not only to finance the war, but also for sabotage and various destabilisation attempts in Europe,” he said on social media, citing the launch of drones from these tankers as a recent example brought to his attention by the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence.
The announcement follows a French investigation into the sanctioned Boracay tanker, suspected to be part of Russia’s shadow fleet, which unexpectedly departed its anchorage off western France days ago.
French president Emmanuel Macron said it was unclear whether the vessel was involved in drone incursions in Denmark last week, which shut Danish airports close to the route the ship had been sailing from the Baltic to the North Sea.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has said he has “sort of” decided on whether to supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, after Moscow warned such a move would spell the end of Russia-US relations.
"I think I want to find out what they're doing with them," the US president said.
