Russia’s vast “shadow fleet” of vessels has been seen primarily as a means of keeping the Kremlin’s oil revenues flowing despite Western sanctions. But a new report from the monitoring group ACLED argues the fleet has evolved into something bigger – a flexible platform for hybrid warfare across northern Europe.
In a report published on Friday, the conflict-monitoring organisation ACLED describes an increasingly emboldened maritime system that allows Moscow not only to circumvent sanctions, but to operate in the grey area between commerce, espionage, intimidation and sabotage.
