Russia Warns Ireland: This Is Piracy! Consequences Will Be Severe

According to TASS on the 3rd (Monday), Russian Ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov stated that Russia has issued a warning to Ireland, asserting that if Dublin engages in 'pirate acts' by boarding commercial vessels on suspicion of violating sanctions against Russia, it will face severe consequences.

Ireland recently passed legislation authorizing its military to board and inspect ships under the pretext of 'combating violations of sanctions against Russia.'

The UK's Guardian reported on the 3rd that Irish officials have recently observed a growing number of Russian 'shadow fleet' vessels transiting waters near Ireland in the North Atlantic, circumventing the more tightly controlled waters of the UK and France.

For years, Western nations have accused Russia of using commercial tankers and other vessels to evade Western sanctions, referring to these fleets as the 'shadow fleet.' Besides Russia, Venezuela and Iran have also been accused of using similar fleets to export oil.

The European Union has implemented several sanctions packages against Russia, including sanctions targeting Russian 'shadow fleet' vessels, banning them from docking at EU ports and cutting off related maritime services.

Italy's Ministry of Defense announced on August 2 that the Italian Navy, operating as part of an EU long-term military mission in the Mediterranean, intercepted a sanctioned Russian 'shadow fleet' tanker on the same day. This marks the second such interception by the EU in the past two weeks.

Both the UK and France have stated they will intercept any vessels linked to Russia's sanctioned 'shadow fleet' passing through their territorial waters. The UK government announced in March this year that it had already authorized its military to inspect 'shadow fleet' vessels.

Former UK Prime Minister Shaker confirmed on June 14 that armed forces intercepted a Russian 'shadow fleet' vessel in the English Channel in the early hours of that day.

The UK Ministry of Defense stated that in a six-hour operation, Royal Marines commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency boarded the sanctioned tanker. This was the first time the UK has led such an operation.