官員稱，俄羅斯戰鬥機保護「影子船隊」艦艇，這是莫斯科首次採取此類行動

 Recently CNN News on-line reported the following:

Russian fighter jet protects ‘shadow fleet’ vessel in first such move by Moscow, officials say

Joseph Ataman, CNN

Tue, May 20, 2025 at 12:37 a.m. PDT·5 min read

Until last week, a secretive fleet of ships ferrying Russian oil around the world showed no clear links to the Kremlin. That changed when, in a dramatic escalation, Russia used a fighter jet in an apparent effort to protect one of the tankers thought to be in the fleet.

After the Estonian military contacted the Jaguar – an unflagged tanker sanctioned by the United Kingdom earlier this month – on May 13 in an attempt to carry out checks, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet flew past the ship, inside Estonian airspace, the Estonian Defense Forces said. The military eventually escorted the tanker out of Estonian waters.

“This is something very new,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters Thursday at a NATO meeting in Turkey. Russia has now “officially tied and connected itself” to the so-called shadow fleet, he added.

Others agree. “This seems to be a step-change in Kremlin thinking,” Ed Arnold, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a UK-based think tank, told CNN.

Estimated to be hundreds of vessels strong, with no official ties to Russia, the “shadow fleet” includes many old, poorly maintained ships, which have in some instances wreaked environmental havoc and, according to some, have been implicated in damage to vital undersea cables off the Baltic coast. Russia has denied any role in the damage.

The tankers, many with opaque ownership structures, transport Russian oil for export to avoid Western sanctions. As such, they have themselves become a focus of further sanctions on Moscow.

Russia’s use, for the first time, of “military action” in response to economic sanctions “is a testament to the level of the threat that we’re facing on the eastern flank of NATO,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told journalists at the meeting in Turkey.

Video shot from the bridge of the Jaguar, which appears to have been edited, shows a radio call from Estonian authorities demanding the ship change course, with Estonian military ships and aircraft visible around the tanker. CNN has corroborated details of the footage, which was shared online by Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of Russian state media outlet RT.

Later in the video, a sole Russian Su-35 fighter jet sweeps ahead of the tanker, which was previously named the Argent, according to shipping records and the UK government. In response, Portuguese F-16 jets on a NATO mission in Estonia were rushed to the area to monitor the Russian aircraft, NATO said.

The jets are part of a strengthened NATO presence in northern Europe since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Probably what the Kremlin is trying to do is push back on that, so in the hope that NATO nations get spooked by what happened (last Tuesday),” said Arnold at RUSI.

“There will be those within NATO who are a bit worried about this and say, ‘Well, hang on, do we really want to risk starting a wider confrontation with Russia over one ship?’”

 

‘Reaction’ to larger NATO presence

For the Estonians, the Russian jet’s intrusion into Estonian air space is proof that Western sanctions are biting.

The incident “demonstrates that monitoring and sanctioning the shadow fleet is effective and that such efforts must be further intensified,” the Estonian Defense Forces said in a statement.

CNN was not able to locate the registered owner of the Jaguar for comment. The Russian Ministry of Defense has declined to respond to CNN’s request for comment. The Kremlin has previously refused to respond to accusations that it uses a “shadow fleet.”

In January, following repeated incidents in which ships caused damage to undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, NATO launched the “Baltic Sentry” initiative to bolster its military presence in the waters.

“We see the (Tuesday) incident as a reaction to Baltic Sentry,” Col. Martin O’Donnell, a NATO spokesman, told CNN. “Russia’s destabilizing actions will not deter us from acting within international law to maintain maritime security, safety and freedom of navigation.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that a new sanctions package could be adopted as early as Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to join Russia’s talks with Ukraine in Turkey last week. Merz had said earlier that Russia’s “shadow fleet” – “permanently operating in the Baltic Sea with up to 300 ships” – would be specifically targeted in this package.

In a possible tit-for-tat move, a Greek-owned oil tanker, Green Admire, was detained Sunday by Russia as it transited Russian waters on a route agreed by Estonia, Finland and Russia, Estonia’s foreign minister posted on X.

CNN has reached out to the vessel’s owner and the Russian foreign ministry for comment. The Russian foreign ministry has not responded.

Estonian authorities have conducted more than 450 checks on vessels in Tallinn-controlled waters in the Baltic Sea since last June, according to the country’s transport ministry. This includes the Gulf of Finland, one of the principal conduits for Russian overseas trade.

Translation

官員稱，俄羅斯戰鬥機保護「影子船隊」艦艇，這是莫斯科首次採取此類行動

到了上週，一支秘密運送俄羅斯石油到世界各地的船隊未有顯示出與克里姆林宮保持明確的聯繫。局勢戲劇性地升級，俄羅斯出動了一架戰鬥機，顯然是為了保護其中一艘被認為是該船隊中的運油輪。

愛沙尼亞國防軍表示，5 月 13 日，愛沙尼亞軍方與「美洲虎」號油輪接觸，試圖進行檢查。 「美洲虎」是本月稍早受到英國制裁未有懸掛國旗的油輪。其間一架俄羅斯蘇-35 戰鬥機在愛沙尼亞領空內飛過該油輪。軍方最後護送油輪離開愛沙尼亞水域。

愛沙尼亞外交部長馬 Margus Tsahkna 週四在土耳其舉行的北約會議上對記者說：「這是非常新的事情」。他補充說，俄羅斯現在已經「正式與所謂的影子船隊捆綁起來」。

其他人也同意。英國智庫皇家聯合服務研究所（RUSI）高級研究員 Ed Arnold 告訴美國有線電視新聞網： “這似乎是克里姆林宮思維上的顯著的變化。”

據估計，「影子船隊」擁有數百艘船隻，與俄羅斯沒有官方聯繫，其中包括許多老舊、維護不善的船隻，這些船隻在某些情況下造成了環境破壞，一些人認為，這些船隻還對波羅的海沿岸重要的海底電纜造成了破壞。俄羅斯否認與此破壞有任何關聯。

許多這些油輪的所有權結構是不透明，是被用於運輸俄羅斯石油出口，以規避西方制裁。因此，他們自己也成為了對莫斯科進一步制裁的焦點。

法國外交部長Jean-Noël Barrot 在土耳其會議上對記者表示，俄羅斯首次採取「軍事行動」回應經濟制裁，「這顯示了我們在北約東翼面臨的威脅程度」。

從 “美洲虎”號艦橋拍攝的似乎經過了編輯的影片，顯示愛沙尼亞當局透過無線電呼叫要求該船改變航線，並且可以看到油輪周圍有愛沙尼亞軍艦和飛機。 CNN  證實了這段影片的細節, 它是俄羅斯國家媒體 RT 主編 Margarita Simonyan 在網路上分享的。

影片的後段，一架俄羅斯蘇-35戰鬥機掠過這艘油輪，根據航運記錄和英國政府的說法，這艘油輪之前名為 Argent。北約表示，作為回應，正在愛沙尼亞執行北約任務的葡萄牙 F-16 戰機緊急趕赴該地區監視俄羅斯飛機。

自 2022 年俄羅斯全面入侵烏克蘭以來，這些戰機是北約加強出現在北歐的一部分安排。

皇家聯合軍種研究所 (RUSI)的 Arnold 表示： “克里姆林宮可能正試圖抵抗此事，希望令北約國家對（上週二）發生的事情感到驚慌。”

“北約內部有些人會對此感到有些擔心，他們會說:   '等一等，我們真的想因為一艘船而冒險與俄羅斯引發更大範圍的對抗嗎？’”

對北約擴大軍事存在的 “反應”

對愛沙尼亞人來說，俄羅斯戰機入侵愛沙尼亞領空證明西方制裁正在產生效果。

愛沙尼亞國防軍在聲明中表示，這件事件「表明監視和制裁影子船隊是有效的，而且必須進一步加強此類努力」。

CNN 未能找到這 “美洲虎”號的登記主人進行置評。俄羅斯國防部拒絕回應 CNN 的置評請求。克里姆林宮先前拒絕回應有關其使用「影子艦隊」的指控。

今年1月，在波羅的海頻頻發生船隻對海底基礎設施造成破壞的事件後，北約啟動了「波羅的海哨兵」計劃，以加強其在該海域的軍事存在。

北約發言人 Martin O’Donnell 上校告訴美國有線電視新聞網 (CNN)： “我們認為（週二的）事件是對 ‘波羅的海哨兵’ 行動的反應。” “俄羅斯的破壞穩定行動, 是不會阻止我們按照國際法採取行動維護海上安全、航行的安全和自由。”

德國總理默茨週五表示，由於俄羅斯總統普京上週沒有參加在土耳其舉行的俄羅斯與烏克蘭的會談，新的製裁方案最早可能在週二通過。默茨先前曾表示，俄羅斯的「影子船隊」-「在波羅的海恆常活動，擁有多達 300 艘艦船」- 將成為該方案的特定目標。

愛沙尼亞外交部長在 X 上發文稱，一艘希臘油輪「Green Admire」號週日在經過由愛沙尼亞、芬蘭和俄羅斯之前商定的航線的俄羅斯水域時, 被俄羅斯扣留，這可能是俄羅斯採取的針鋒相對行動。

美國有線電視新聞網已聯繫該船的船主和俄羅斯外交部徵詢意見。俄羅斯外交部尚未回應。

據愛沙尼亞當局稱, 該國運輸部自去年 6 月以來，在波羅的海Tallinn控制水域中, 已進行了 450 多次檢查。這包括芬蘭灣，這是俄羅斯海外貿易的主要通道之一。

So, recently inside Estonian waters, when the Estonian military made an attempt to carry out checks out on an oil tanker, a Russia Su-35 fighter jet flew past this ship in an effort to protect it. This is something very new, and Russia has now “officially tied and connected itself” to the so-called shadow fleet. For the Estonians, the Russian jet’s intrusion into Estonian air space is proof that Western sanctions are biting.