Media Citation
Putin is flying spy drones over critical UK sites from his shadow fleet tankers | The i-Paper
Source: The i-Paper | 28 June 2026
[...] ACLED, an independent conflict monitoring organisation, tracked 56 incidents involving drones potentially launched from shadow fleet vessels to surveil critical infrastructure from Germany to Ireland and Spain to Norway in the last 18 months, up from 31 in the previous three years – an 80 per cent increase.
[...] ACLED also tracked four incidents of damage to cables in the Baltic Sea, suspected of having been caused by Russian oil tankers, since the beginning of last year. At the same time, a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, has been routinely tracked in the English Channel and the North Sea, prompting a change to UK rules of engagement last year after the intelligence-gathering vessel shone lasers at an RAF surveillance aircraft.
Witold Stupnicki, a senior analyst for ACLED, said there was no doubt that Moscow is now using its shadow fleet as a “hybrid warfare platform” acting increasingly alongside Russian military vessels, and forming a persistent threat to UK and European security.
He said: “In the next one to two years, the threats will involve risks to undersea cables connecting northern European countries. Moreover, the shadow fleet will remain a platform for drone reconnaissance over critical infrastructure – driving further escalations.” [...]
