Estonia says Russia sent military jet after bid to detain 'shadow fleet' tanker
TALLINN (Reuters) -Estonia's foreign minister said on Thursday Russia sent a military jet as his country's navy tried to detain a Russia-bound oil tanker under sanction by Britain, accusing it of sailing illegally without a flag.
After the vessel, Jaguar, placed on Britain's sanctions list last Friday, refused to cooperate with an attempt to board it, the Estonian Navy said it was escorted to Russian waters.
"The Russian Federation sent a fighter jet to check the situation, and this fighter jet violated NATO territory for close to one minute," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters in the Turkish city of Antalya.
"We need to understand that Russia has officially tried and connected itself to the Russian 'shadow fleet'," he said, speaking ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
"(The) Russian Federation is ready to protect the 'shadow fleet'... The situation is really serious".
The Jaguar is one of more than 100 ships in Russia's "shadow fleet", a term Western countries use for ships they accuse Moscow of deploying to avoid international sanctions, typically unregulated and uninsured by regular Western organisations.
Military jets from a NATO policing mission based in the Baltic states took off to inspect the Russian vessel, said the minister, who earlier called on X for Russia to "face tougher, faster sanctions" in response.
The Russian foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Britain has said its sanctions restricting or prohibiting movement and access of the 'shadow fleet' to some of its ports will constrain Russian President Vladimir Putin's war effort.
"FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS"
The ship was near Naissaar Island, off Tallinn, when the Estonian Navy communicated with it by radio at 1530 GMT on Tuesday, Commander Ivo Vark told Reuters in an email message.
As it was sailing "without a nationality", Estonia "had an obligation to verify the vessel's documents and legal status", Vark said on Wednesday.
"The vessel denied cooperation and continued its journey toward Russia ... given the vessel's lack of nationality, the use of force, including boarding the vessel, was deemed unnecessary."
An Estonian patrol escorted the Jaguar until it reached Russian waters, Vark added.
The Estonian defence ministry declined to comment.
On Thursday, the Jaguar was anchored near the Russian port of Primorsk, Marine Traffic data showed. It was listed there under the flag of the central African nation of Gabon.
Vark was responding to a Reuters request for comment on a recording on X purporting to show the boarding attempt, but which could not be independently verified.
Filmed from a bridge of a tanker whose IMO identification number matches that of the Jaguar, the video shows a navy patrol boat, a helicopter and a patrol aircraft hovering nearby.
"This is Estonian warship ... follow my instructions, alter your course to 105 immediately," says a voice on the radio. In Russian, a voice says off-camera, "We are met by helicopters, they demand we go on anchor."
A military jet, which Estonia does not operate, is also glimpsed flying nearby.
Vark did not reply to a query if the incident was connected to Tuesday's alleged breach of Estonian airspace by a Russian Su-35 military jet that drew a protest from Estonia.
On X, Margarita Simonyan, head of Russia's state media outlet RT, who posted the video, said the jet was a Russian Su-35, sent to prevent the vessel's seizure.
In an incident on April 11, Estonia detained and boarded a Russia-bound oil tanker, Kiwala, accusing it of sailing without a valid country flag. The tanker cooperated, and was released two weeks later.
(Additional Reporting by Sabine Siebold in Antalya and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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