The Russian Shadow Fleet and British Grand Strategy

This article examines two potential legal pathways that Britain could adopt to pressure the Russian ‘shadow fleet’ of crude oil tankers currently being used to skirt the international sanctions regime, imposed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022. First, it notes the legal and the military levers of current British maritime power, and why, despite some success, the shadow fleet is proving difficult to address through the usual methods Britain has employed against rogue actors. It then explores what more can be done, examining two historical means of enforcing countermeasures agains…