25 June 2026
Military ships patrol the Smyrtos vessel outside the harbour, on June 14, 2026, in Portland, England. (Source: Getty Images)
Military ships patrol the Smyrtos vessel outside the harbour, on June 14, 2026, in Portland, England. (Source: Getty Images)
Ministers are considering proposals to sell the oil, which has an estimated market value of around $46 million, and use the money to fund Ukraine’s military needs. The plan is still at an early stage.
One option under discussion would see the funds transferred directly to Kyiv. Another would use the proceeds to buy equipment for Ukraine’s frontline forces.
A separate option would involve refining the oil in the UK and using it to heat homes, though it remains unclear how the crude would be transferred from state ownership to an energy company.
Previously, the Swedish Coast Guard took control of a suspected stateless vessel in Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea, marking the second such incident in less than a week.
Before that, Swedish authorities detained the cargo vessel Caffa in the Baltic Sea after it was suspected of involvement in transporting grain taken from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
Earlier, the French Navy detained another Russian shadow fleet oil tanker, Deliver, near the coast of Sicily after it departed Russia’s Primorsk port under the flag of Cameroon.
Just do it!
We’ve mentioned this before, that the West should confiscate those ships and their oil. It would be the right thing to do, and smart to boot.