FURIOUS Moscow has accused the US of “outright piracy” after it seized a tanker linked to Russia.
In a fresh humiliation for Vladimir Putin, American troops today boarded the rusting Marinera tanker after a daring two-week chase across the Atlantic.
The shadow fleet tanker is now in the custody of Washington.
But the move has riled up Moscow, with senior lawmaker Andrei Aleksandrovich Klishas branding the gobsmacking capture “an act of outright piracy”.
Donald Trump’s forces pulled off the commando-style raid despite desperate Putin and submarine naval assets to guard the rogue tanker.
The tyrant’s transport ministry also claimed the seizure is a violation of maritime law, adding contact with the vessel had been lost after US naval forces boarded it.
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It said: “In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states.”
Dramatic photos show a helicopter – believed to be an American MH-6 Little Bird – swooping on the tanker, which was previously called Bella 1, before it landed on board.
British armed forces supported the capture, the Ministry of Defence said.
Supply ship RFA Tideforce and RAF surveillance aircraft assisted the capture around 200km from the south Icelandic coast.
Ship tracking data showed the Marinera make an abrupt turn this afternoon and head towards the UK.
Defence Secretary John Healey hailed the “skill and professionalism” of the UK’s armed forces.
He said: “This action formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting.
“This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.
“The UK will continue to step up our action against shadow fleet activity to protect our national security, our economy, and global stability – making Britain secure at home and strong abroad.
“The US is the UK’s closest defence and security partner.
“The depth of our defence relationship with the US is an essential part of our security, and today’s seamlessly executed operation shows just how well this works in practice.”
Russia claimed the ship was not carrying anything – but allies fear the ship could have been taking top-secret military cargo such as missiles across to Venezuela.
Both the US and UK started closely monitoring the ship’s movement after escaping Trump’s Venezuela blockade.
The ship suddenly changed its course, renamed itself Marinera and was added to Russia’s ship database.
During the pursuit, the tanker’s crew even painted a Russian flag on the hull.
Since the president imposed the “total and complete” blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers on December 16, more than a dozen vessels have fled the country.
Officials described it as a coordinated break-out attempt.
Sixteen tankers – most of them supertankers bound for China – slipped out using deceptive tactics, including fake ship names, falsified locations and switching off tracking signals to operate in “dark mode”.
It comes as footage today showed the incredible moment US forces swooped on a second shadow fleet tanker to commandeer the vessel near to the Caribbean.
The sanctioned M/T Sophia was “conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea”, according to the US Southern Command.