Russia sent warships to Marinera tanker, but they were just watching US military - media

The ships of the Navy of the aggressor country russia saw the US Army seize the tanker Marinera, but did not take any measures to prevent them.

Reuters reported this, citing its own sources on Wednesday, January 7.

Unnnamed American officials said that russian naval vessels, including a submarine, were in the area of the operation to seize the Marinera tanker.

"It was unclear how close the vessels were to the operation, but there were no indications of a confrontation between U.S. and Russian military forces," the agency quoted the interlocutors as saying.

The agency's sources also said that US Special Forces soldiers initially ensured security on the tanker, but then left the vessel. It is now under the control of the US Coast Guard.

Marinera (IMO: 9230880) is a tanker of the so-called "shadow fleet", which until recently was called Bella-1 and flew the flag of Guyana. The US accused the vessel of violating sanctions and transporting oil products from Iran to Venezuela.

In December, the US Coast Guard attempted to detain the tanker in the Caribbean Sea, but the vessel abruptly changed course and headed northeast across the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, the crew of the tanker painted the russian flag on board, which coincided with the re-registration of the vessel.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, earlier today, the US Army Command in Europe announced the seizure of the Marinera tanker, which violated US sanctions.

The russian Ministry of Transport said that the seizure of the tanker is a "violation of international law". And the russian Foreign Ministry called on the United States to ensure the normal treatment of the ship's crew.

A few hours later, it became known that the US military detained the Sophia tanker in the Caribbean Sea. This is another tanker from the so-called "shadow fleet."