"The Estonian Navy tried to stop the tanker Jaguar,
believed to belong to the Russian shadow fleet.
Added comments by G. Paluckas and K. Budris.
However, the ship carrying Russian oil disobeyed orders and
sailed out of Estonia's economic zone.
The Polish portal "Defense24" reports that a
recording made from the deck of a tanker flying the Gabonese flag has appeared
on the Internet.
The exact date of the recording is unknown, but given the
current position of the tanker, which is moored off the coast of Gogland
Island, the recording was most likely made recently, the report says.
Gogland is the largest Russian-controlled island in the Gulf
of Finland.
The footage shows an Estonian Defence
Forces A139 helicopter and an M28 Skytruck aircraft flying around the ship.
Another shot shows one of the Estonian Navy patrol boats sailing very close to
the tanker.
The Estonian crew radioed the Jaguar to change course and
follow the instructions of the emergency services.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas says the
incident shows the increasing likelihood of conflicts.
“The likelihood of such incidents and escalation in the
Baltic Sea is increasing,” the prime minister told reporters in the Seimas on
Thursday.
“We see that after trying to stop a
tanker that clearly does not fly its own flag and whose captain speaks fluent
Russian, a minute later a Russian fighter appeared, which apparently violated
Estonian airspace, but clearly gave a signal that such tankers in the Baltic
Sea are protected by Russian military forces,” he added.
According to the prime minister, such an incident “does not
prove anything additional that we could not or should not have known,” but
confirms that “the probability of a serious escalation increases with every
step.”
“Therefore, even services that have the authority to carry
out certain actions always need to assess the possible consequences. Well,
Russia is showing its muscles, clearly showing that it is ready to defend its
oil routes by such means,” said G. Paluckas.
“We need to act carefully, rationally, so that the
escalation does not turn into one or another purely military armed clash,” the
prime minister insisted.
Giedrimas Jeglinskas, chairman of the Seimas National
Security and Defense Committee (NSGK), told reporters that the incident shows
that “possible (...) provocations are real.”
“They are happening for real, they are happening for real
with real planes, with real fighter jets, with real ships, and there are real
people, there are lives at stake,” the politician said.
According to him, Russia’s behavior requires a different
response from NATO and the Alliance should strengthen its presence in the
Baltic Sea.
“We must really be prepared for a real confrontation,” said
G. Jeglinskas.
According to the parliamentarian, the incident in Estonia
should prompt the international community to rethink the real relationship
between the Russian “shadow fleet” and the country’s authorities, impose
sanctions on most of the ships, and NATO countries in the Baltic Sea region
should strengthen their naval forces.
Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys says that two incidents
recorded in Estonia this week, including an unsuccessful attempt to detain a
ship, show a direct connection between the Kremlin and the so-called shadow fleet.
“The incident is truly serious, because it once again
reminds us that the “shadow fleet” is really active in the Baltic Sea,” the
head of Lithuanian diplomacy said on Thursday, while visiting Turkey.”
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