EU launches mission to board Russian shadow fleet ships in Indian Ocean
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EU countries have agreed to allow a joint naval mission in the Indian Ocean to begin boarding ships suspected of belonging to Russia's shadow fleet, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on July 22.
The decision to empower the naval anti-piracy operation ATALANTA, which operates off the coast of Somalia and in the Indian Ocean, follows a fourth successful boarding of a shadow fleet vessel by the EU's Operation IRINI in the Mediterranean Sea on July 20.
Kallas welcomed the decision to authorize Operation ATALANTA to board shadow fleet vessels, saying it "further tightens the net."
"Every illicit voyage helps sustain Russia's war machine. We are matching our sanctions with actions at sea," she tweeted.
Specific EU countries have also boarded ships suspected of being part of Russia's shadow fleet when they entered their territorial waters, with France, Sweden, Belgium, and the U.K. among the most recent to do so.
EU countries are hoping to finalize their 21st sanctions package on July 22, in which the bloc's diplomatic arm, the Kallas-led European External Action Service, has proposed about 250 new listings targeting entities that help Russia prosecute its war against Ukraine.
If approved, that would be the largest number of listings in a single sanctions package since 2022.
