Ukraine urges IMO to recognise Russia's shadow fleet as legitimate military target – FT

Oleksii Kuleba, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery, has sent a letter to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) proposing that vessels belonging to Russia's shadow fleet be recognised as legitimate military targets, according to the Financial Times.

Source: Financial Times, citing the digital maritime intelligence service Lloyd's List

Quote: "In a letter sent to the International Maritime Organization on 26 June and seen by the FT, Ukraine's deputy prime minister Oleksii Kuleba said that 'legitimate questions arise as to whether the activities of such vessels can be regarded solely as ordinary commercial operations'."

Details: The FT says that in early June, Russia wrote a letter to the IMO accusing Ukraine of "terrorism" over an attack on the Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker Arctic Metagaz in the Mediterranean Sea in March.

Kuleba argued in response that Russian oil and gas tankers are "critical to the generation of budget revenues for the Russian Federation and the continuation of its war effort".

According to the FT, Kuleba also wrote that Russia had attacked 59 merchant vessels, including the Turkish cargo ship MV Victress and the German vessel Helga, which was carrying 25,000 tonnes of maize to Chornomorsk. The letter states that Victress was rendered unseaworthy after a major fire broke out on its bridge. Helga also sustained fire damage.

"These attacks constitute further evidence of the Russian Federation's blatant disregard for international humanitarian law, the laws governing naval warfare, and the safety of merchant shipping," the letter says, as quoted by the Financial Times.

Meanwhile, according to the maritime intelligence company Windward, no Russian LNG tanker has passed through the Mediterranean Sea since the March attack.

Background:

• In February, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the Ukrainian Defence Ministry team was becoming actively involved in the economic war in order to help disrupt Russia's shadow fleet.
• Also in February, the IMO identified 529 vessels sailing under false flags and stepped up efforts to combat such violations.

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