Images show machine guns and sandbags on Russian tanker

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Estonia has released photographs showing fortified machine gun emplacements on a Russian gas tanker in the Baltic Sea. They were taken in Estonian waters and indicate the new aggressive posture taken by the Kremlin to safeguard its ships from Western sanctions. Nine alleged shadow tankers have been boarded in Europe in 2026, including a ship captured by Royal Marine commandos in the Channel last month. The Russian navy has been escorting its civilian ships to prevent them from being boarded, and there have been previous reports that it has stationed intelligence agents and mercenaries on them. In April, Estonia said it would stop detaining ships linked to Russia because “the risk of military escalation is just too high.”

Read more: British sanctions against the Kremlin’s shadow fleet are not a silver bullet