People in military uniforms spotted on tankers of russian "shadow fleet"

The aggressor country russia has been conducting a military operation in the Baltic Sea for some time now. It is aimed at protecting vessels from the so-called "shadow fleet", through which moscow exports oil bypassing sanctions.

The head of the operational department of the Swedish Navy, Marko Petkovic, has stated this, his words are cited by SVT.

According to him, in recent months, russia has increased the intensity of patrolling the Baltic Sea with warships.

"The presence of the Russian navy has become more permanent and visible in most of the Baltic Sea," Petkovic said.

Russian navy ships are periodically present in different parts of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. The Swedish Navy believes that they somehow support the ships of the "shadow fleet."

In addition, people in military uniforms have been spotted on the shadow fleet vessels. The Danish media were the first to report this, citing pilots. The information circulated throughout the fall. Now it has been confirmed by the Swedish Navy.

"We have seen and received information that there are military personnel on board some of these shadow fleet vessels," Petkovic said.

He did not specify what function the armed people on board the shadow fleet vessels perform.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on December 10, Ukrainian Sea Baby marine drones attacked the Dashan tanker in the Black Sea. The vessel is part of the "shadow fleet" and is under sanctions.

As a reminder, on December 2, an unmanned aerial vehicle attacked the russian tanker Midvolga-2, which was allegedly transporting sunflower oil from russia to Georgia.

And on the night of November 29, in the Black Sea, the tankers Kairos and Virat caught fire. Both are also part of the "shadow fleet."