RUSSIA has threatened to rig its tankers with explosives and trigger devastating blasts if they are seized again by Britain.
One of Vladimir Putin‘s cronies, Dmitry Rogozin, urged the Kremlin to arm its shadow fleet with explosives that could be detonated if intercepted by foreign forces.
Sign up for The Jattvibe newsletter
Thank you!
British marines intercepted a Russian vessel in the English Channel this morning
In response to the incursion, Russia has been urged to arm its vessels with explosives Credit: Vessel Finder
This chilling threat came after Royal Marines boarded the tanker SMYRTOS in the English Channel earlier today.
“We need to mine the tankers we use,” said Rogozin.
He suggested the explosives should be activated “in the event of receiving relevant commands or when the tanker deviates from its route and is forcibly diverted to a foreign port”.
The former Russian Nato representative added: “If a couple of explosions happen under their noses with oil spills and related environmental consequences, they’ll soon change their minds.”
CHANNEL BLOW
Royal Marines storm Russian ‘shadow fleet’ oil tanker in 6-hour Channel raid
DOCK-OUT BLOW
Satellite pics show smoke pour from docked Russian warship after drone blitz
Dmitry Rogozin said mines should be detonated if tankers divert course Credit: East2West
Rogozin previously served as deputy prime minister to Vladimir Putin Credit: East2West
Rogozin said Britain had regressed to the 16th century, when it “actively used pirates in the service of the crown for its political and economic interests”.
He continued: “Such pirates, officially called ‘privateers’ or ‘corsairs’, received ‘privateer’s patents’ from the state, which allowed them to plunder ships and colonies of England’s enemies.
“This helped to weaken rivals – primarily Spain – disrupt their trade, and expand British colonies.
“Everything new is just the well-forgotten old.”
Rogozin was also a former deputy prime minister to Putin, and headed the Russian Space Agency.
He is now a senator for the illegally-invaded region of Ukraine and operates a drone unit fighting in the war.
Telegram war channel Rybar said Britain had previously resisted seizing two tankers sailing through the English Channel under escort by the Russian guided missile frigate Admiral Grigorovich.
“No one wants an incident involving a warship from a nuclear power over a single tanker,” the channel said.
“However, military escorts are an exceptional measure that cannot be implemented on a mass scale.
“Russia simply does not have enough ships to escort every commercial vessel through every dangerous strait.”
Breaking News… More to Follow
