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On the night of March 1, 2026, the combined forces of Belgium and France conducted a special operation to detain the oil tanker Ethera, which, according to Brussels, is part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet.” The vessel, sailing under the flag of Guinea, was taken under military control in the North Sea at the exit from the English Channel and is currently being escorted to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.
The operation, named Blue Intruder, was carried out by the Belgian armed forces with direct support from the French Ministry of Defense. French President Emmanuel Macron released a video of the operation showing two helicopters approaching the ship, after which a capture team landed on the deck.
Belgium’s Chief of Defense Frédéric Vansina explained that Brussels had been tracking the tanker “for some time already.” He mentioned several typical signs of “gray” operations: frequent voyages between Russia and South America, regular disabling of identification systems, and flag changes.
Speaking to the press, Belgium’s Defense Minister Theo Francken made several harsh statements directed at Russia. He emphasized that without the functioning “shadow fleet,” which he claims is used to transport oil while circumventing sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot wage war.” The minister outlined Brussels’ strategy: to disable such vessels one by one. He also noted that Belgium, as a founding state of NATO and the European Union, “takes its responsibility” regarding compliance with international restrictions and maritime security seriously.
The Russian Embassy in Belgium reported that it has not received any official notification from the Belgian authorities regarding the fact and reasons for the tanker’s detention. Diplomats were also not provided with any information about the national composition of its crew. Currently, the Embassy is taking necessary steps to ascertain whether Russian citizens are on board, as well as to ensure their legal rights if this is confirmed.
This incident continues a chain of consistently increasing pressure on shipping that Western countries associate with Russia. Previously, on February 22, the French stopped the tanker Grinch in the Mediterranean Sea. However, back then, the vessel was only given a significant fine, after paying which it left French waters.
Furthermore, Belgian authorities had previously stated that they had identified over 500 “shadow” vessels with opaque jurisdictions, dozens of which had passed through the North Sea and Belgium’s zone of responsibility. They now plan to detain them one by one. According to some experts, the US and EU countries periodically seize tankers carrying Russian oil to keep transportation costs for energy carriers high. Their goal is for Russia to export a lot but earn little.
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nikt się rosji nie boi. a putin jest bezradny. jak mu dadzą gówno na talerzu to powie ze smaczny gulasz. klika putina niszczy rosje
polskie gowno
clearly the n(a)w(t)o scum are looking to provoke russia into ww3
clearly this seizure attempt was planned by bridgette macron. there is no possibility that france and belgium did this without the orders of zio bankers
and russia won’t do shit.
dmitriev will be sent west by the kremlin koons to settle any disturbances caused by this incident, and get relations, between friends, back on course.
putin needs to be replaced with a real leader not someone who is constantly making backroom deals with the thugs who are murdering russians.
putin was brought up by jews and is clearly a zionist. sadly there are no heroes. it is a big satanic paedophile cannibal club and we aren’t in it…
your first sentence is right on, but his dear old mama (shamanova by birth) was jewish, so that makes this particular duplicitous pocket rocket one of (((them)))
they are pedos in the hands of the cabalists. there is nothing to discuss.
a que tiempo los russos van a ser algo que no sea habar diplomaticamente.
too late–dumb americunts lose vs iran…gas oil prices increase; 🇷🇺 benefits
start installing 50 cals on tankers
and what is the legal basis for seizing foreign tankers in international waterways?
putin is a pussy and lets them do it is the legal basis
might makes right is the other legal basis
shadow fleet is meaningless term invented to justify western/zio piracy.
looks like old man poots’ crowd need to take some advice from this larajini new face in iran.
it’s usually referred to as sticking up for oneself.
no tankers w oil near iran –eurocunts will pay even more for my used condoms
they issue bullshit claims that mean nothing. they’re the same as trump, f’ing thieves. russia is going to have to spank these morons and make them beg for mercy. it shouldn’t take much, they’ve given all their arms to ukr. they better steal all they can, they just lost all their oil supplies for the foreseeable future. stupid, stupid, stupid.
iran gave them their answer – tenfold, and soon more.
this is state piracy and nothing else!