Wagner veterans are riding oil tankers through NATO waters.
Not a metaphor. OCCRP found at least 17 military-linked personnel on Russia's shadow fleet in the Baltic—monitoring crews, coordinating with Moscow.
The US is already seizing these ships. The Skipper in December. The Marinera in January. $294 million forfeited since 2019.
But with Hormuz closed and oil past $100, Washington is now floating sanctions relief on Russian energy.
70 million barrels of Russian crude sail past EU coasts every month on shadow fleet tankers. The EU has sanctioned over 600 of them. Almost none get stopped.
Europe could confiscate the cargo and fill its own reserves—weaken Russia and ease the energy crisis in one move, says Oleh Savytskyi of @razomwestand.
Instead, it watches. https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/03/12/forget-easing-russian-sanctions-europe-should-be-boarding-russian-tankers/
With Hormuz closed and oil past $100, Europe should confiscate shadow fleet cargo—not ease Russian sanctions to plug the supply gap.
Euromaidan Press
SteelRat