Putin Threatens to Seize Western Commercial Ships in Response to Actions Against Russia’s Shadow Fleet

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to respond ‘in kind’ if Western countries begin seizing Russian commercial vessels.

Putin made the statement on August 12, 2026, during the final stage of Pacific Fleet military exercises in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

According to Putin, Russia could take such ‘countermeasures’ not only in the same waters where Western countries detain its vessels, but also ‘anywhere,’ including in the Pacific Ocean.

He also said Moscow views actions by several Western countries against Russian commercial shipping as attempts to restrict the movement of Russian vessels.

“We see that the authorities of some countries, in violation of international maritime law, are trying to restrict the movement of vessels operated by our companies. And these are civilian vessels. And recently, they even came up with the possibility of seizing our vessels and selling property looted from us. If they begin to put this into practice, we will be forced to respond in kind,” the Russian president said.

It is worth noting that the U.S. campaign to seize Russian vessels linked to the shadow fleet began on January 7, 2026. At the time, U.S. forces and the Coast Guard seized the tanker Marinera in the North Atlantic after a weeklong pursuit.

The vessel attempted to evade seizure by changing its name and flag to Russian names and registration. The United States subsequently expanded the operation to locate and detain vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet.

European countries, meanwhile, began detaining such vessels even earlier. On December 26, 2024, Finnish authorities detained the Cook Islands-flagged tanker Eagle S on suspicion of deliberately damaging the Estlink 2 undersea power cable linking Estonia and Finland, as well as several internet cables in the Baltic Sea.

Germany subsequently joined such efforts. On March 21, 2025, German authorities detained the Panama-flagged tanker Eventin, carrying Russian oil worth about €40 million.

In addition to directly seizing vessels belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet, Ukraine is carrying out Operation MoLoChKa in the Black and Azov seas.

As of August 8, 2026, Ukrainian forces reported that they had successfully struck 218 vessels. Of these, 34 were in the Sea of Azov and another 84 in the Black Sea.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that the Supreme Court of Sweden had ruled to transfer to Ukraine the CAFFA vessel, which had been confiscated and was part of Russia’s shadow fleet.