Russia is believed to be behind dozens of hybrid attacks, like arson or sabotage, on NATO soil since the Ukraine war started.

The Cook Islands-registered oil tanker Eagle S is anchored near the ... But Western governments and sanctions experts say Moscow has resorted to using a so-called shadow fleet of hundreds of aging tankers of uncertain ownership and safety practices that ...

Estonian naval ships are taking part in stepped-up patrols in the Baltic Sea by NATO countries after undersea power and communications cables have been damaged in recent months.

Read: What Europe fears] The Eagle S, however, apparently had a covert military purpose as well: Investigators discovered that the vessel was crammed full of advanced surveillance equipment, which used so much power that the ship suffered from periodic blackouts.

European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen emphasizes monitoring suspect ships to protect vital undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Following a series of incidents amid Russia-Ukraine tensions,

Svitlana Romanko, a prominent Ukrainian peace and clean energy campaigner, said Mr Trump had the chance to take up a historic opportunity to end the war in an efficient way. The president could sanction Russia’s fossil fuel exports, cutting its profits by 40 to 50 per cent.

The investigators have turned up no indication that commercial ships deliberately dragged anchors in the area where the submarine cables lay on Moscow’s instructions, the officials noted

We can’t count on the stars aligning every time a cable or pipeline suffers mysterious damage, and must find ways of incentivizing ship crews to obey maritime rules.

A Russian spy ship seen in U.K. waters points to continuing worries over the safety of undersea cables that link the global economy.

General Martin Herem, former head of Estonia’s defence forces, has speculated that NATO could blockade the Baltic. However, given that this would amount to a declaration of war, NATO has opted for a less confrontational approach: surveillance.

The “vintage tonnage” is the “shadow fleet” of second-hand oil tankers that were spared from the ship-breaking yards in 2022 because Russia lost its export market in Europe when it invaded Ukraine. There were plenty of potential customers for cut-price Russian oil in India and China, but no pipelines to get it there. It had to go by sea.

It evokes 17th-century pirate vessels flying the skull-and-crossbones, 18th century ships-of-the-line bristling with cannons, or even 19th-century clipper ships in full sail bringing tea to England and America.