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London unable to retrieve UK-licensed arms used to protect Russian oil tankers, Bloomberg reports

by Boldizsar Gyori November 5, 2024 3:35 PM 2 min read
A tanker sits moored dockside at the port, operated by Tuapse Commercial Sea Port JSC, in Tuapse, Russia, on March 23, 2020. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The United Kingdom has been unable to retrieve its weapons from floating armories offering  weapons and accommodation for guards defending Russian oil tankers, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 5.

As Russia’s oil exports increased to India following EU sanctions, so did the number of its vessels traveling through the dangerous Suez Canal and Red Sea, driving up demand for armed guards who temporarily travel on the ships until they pass the dangerous zone.

The guards use the floating armories for weapons storage and accommodation, Bloomberg explains.

As sanctions ramped up, the U.K. withdrew the permits for these vessels, but the weapons stored on them were not returned to a licensed depot, the outlet writes.

The vessels serving as armories were transferred to a Singapore-based company, remaining in use by the security firms providing their services, using British weapons to protect sanctioned Russian oil exports from pirates.

Since the change of domicile by the companies owning the vessels, the U.K. has been unable to determine where the weapons are and been unable to retrieve them, Bloomberg reported, citing an undisclosed source familiar with the matter.

Fossil fuel exports are one of the key sources of revenue for Russia's federal budget, helping to sustain Moscow's all-out war against Ukraine.

While the Western countries have imposed massive sanctions against the Russian economy since the outbreak of the all-out war in 2022, Moscow has managed to avoid many restrictions through intermediaries and shell companies.

Russia is also aided in sanctions evasion through its allies, including China, Iran, and North Korea.

Sanctions for show: Russian oil sales to China, India single main driver of Ukraine invasion
As Western sanctions designed to cripple Russian energy exports barely slow them down, the Kremlin continues to make enough money to keep its war against Ukraine going indefinitely, just by selling oil to China and India. After pivoting away from Europe, Moscow found enthusiastic buyers in Beijing…

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