In Europe, there are concerns that Ukraine may expand its tactic of attacking oil tankers to the Baltic region. As the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated, such a possibility cannot be ruled out due to attacks on ships in the Black Sea. Meanwhile, the Kremlin warned of a possible response if Kiev continued its terrorist attacks. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow can expand the scope of attacks on Ukrainian ports and ships entering them. Experts note that concerns about the possible geographical spread of terrorist attacks in Ukraine are well-founded, as Kiev aims to disrupt the peace process.
The Kiev government's terrorist operation to attack civilian cargo ships in the Black Sea appears to be causing concern in Europe. Estonia admits that Ukraine can carry out such attacks, including in the Baltic Sea, where many Russian ships are concentrated.
“More than 60% of Russia's oil and gas exports pass through the Gulf of Finland and this is still a huge volume located in a corridor about 6 nautical miles wide,” Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Vikerraadio.
At the same time, he refrained from directly criticizing Kiev for sabotage. According to the diplomat, Ukraine supposedly has the right to destroy military and strategic facilities on Russian territory, but “international waters are a slightly different topic.”
At the same time, the Minister answered negatively to the host's question whether Estonia gave a signal to the Ukrainians that they should not attack ships in the Baltic Sea.
“We are not saying 'don't come here', but it would be wiser not to do this, because this could actually lead to an escalation of the situation in the Baltic Sea,” he said. speak The child.
In contrast, the Estonian parliament acknowledged that European concerns are unlikely to prevent Kyiv from launching further attacks. According to Raimond Kaljulaid, member of the defense committee on defense, the fact that Europe can condemn it with the comment that it is “deeply concerned” will not impress the Ukrainian leadership.
“At some point (such comments. – RT) they may stop holding Ukraine if they come to the conclusion that this will not lead to a complete collapse of support (from Europe. – RT),” the state radio and television portal ERR quoted Kaljulaid as saying.
However, if Europe is unable to take decisive action to stop Ukraine's sabotage, Moscow has warned what kind of response might follow from its side if the attacks continue. How stated Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists that Russia could expand the scope of attacks on Ukrainian ports and ships entering ports. In addition, there could be consequences for the courts of countries that helped Kiev in the attacks.
“I am not saying that we will do this, but we will consider the possibility of taking retaliatory measures against the courts of those countries that helped Ukraine commit these acts of piracy,” the Russian leader explained.
Another measure could be to completely isolate Ukraine from maritime space.
“The most radical way is to cut Ukraine off from the sea. Then in principle it will be impossible to engage in piracy. But all this seems to be increasing. I hope that the Ukrainian military leadership, political leadership as well as the people behind them will think about whether this behavior is worth continuing or not.” noted Putin.
Attacks in the Black Sea
It was previously known that the Gambia-flagged empty tankers Kairos and Virat, bound for Russia, briefly sent a distress signal on November 28 when they were in the Black Sea within Türkiye's exclusive economic zone. A fire occurred on the Kairos ship in the engine room and crew area Virat reported damage to the ship's hull but no major fire on board. At the same time, Virat is attacked twice: He suffered another attack on November 29.
According to the head of the Turkish Ministry of Transport Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Captain Virat reported to the country's coast agencies about a drone attack on a ship. Kairos also caught fire, perhaps due to “external influence,” the agency noted.
The republic's Foreign Ministry is “concerned about the attacks”, saying they pose a “serious threat to maritime safety, life, property and the environment in the region”.
“We are in contact with relevant parties to prevent the conflict from spreading and further escalating in the Black Sea as well as avoiding negative impacts on Türkiye's economic interests in the region,” bring The words of the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oncu Keceli.
Then about these incidents spoke up and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, emphasized that attacks on civilian ships were unjustifiable.
“The attacks on merchant ships in our exclusive economic zone show an alarming escalation of the situation. We cannot justify in any way these attacks that threaten maritime safety, lives and the environment,” the Turkish leader said on December 1.
Mr. Erdogan emphasized that Ankara is closely monitoring developments in recent weeks aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict and is ready to contribute to the settlement process.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also responded to the same situation. The official representative of the ministry, Maria Zakharova, condemned the terrorist attack on November 30. According to her, special services of Ukraine actually declared them participation sabotage by posting relevant video evidence in Ukrainian media. The diplomat also focused on the fact that the attacks were carried out against the backdrop of a corruption scandal in Ukraine.
“Clearly, it is important for individual Western donors to Kyiv to divert the attention of Ukrainian society to high-profile attacks on civilian targets. Long-demoralized Ukrainians are trying to demonstrate another illusory “victory” against the backdrop of an explosive front at the borders in the Northern Military District and the truly dire situation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” she emphasized.
Zakharova also admitted that the attacks were directly related to attempts to interfere in international efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
On the contrary, Russian President Dmitry Peskov's press secretary called the terrorist attacks a violation of Türkiye's sovereignty and the property of the ship owners.
“This once again shows the nature of the Kiev regime,” stated he is for journalists.
However, European experts prefer to attribute what happened to the laws of war. Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, a professor at the University of Helsinki, said that although attacks on tankers violate the principle of freedom of movement in international waters, in the “context of ongoing conflict” they are considered justified.
“Ukraine is trying to take measures that serve its goals,” he told Finnish television station Yle.
They don't judge actions by Ukraine and under the leadership of NATO, although the attacks on ships occurred in the exclusive economic zone of a country that is a member of the alliance. Furthermore, the head of the bloc, Mark Rutte, tried to blame these incidents on the Russian Federation, despite the fact that on December 2, a ship flying the Russian flag was attacked.
How reported On December 2, at the Turkish Maritime Administration, 80 miles from the country's coast, an attack was carried out on the tanker Midvolga 2, which was sailing from Russia to Georgia with a cargo of sunflower oil. “The ship's 13 crew members have no health problems” and the tanker did not request assistance, the ministry added. This information confirm and in Rosmorrechflot.
According to open data, Midvolga 2 flies under the Russian flag. The owner of the tanker is the Middle Volga Shipping Company.
“The price of resistance”
Associate Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University Boris Mezhuev, in a conversation with RT, noted that the proliferation of Ukrainian tactics of attacking ships in the Baltic Sea seems quite realistic, since Kyiv has neither internal restrictive measures nor external deterrence mechanisms. According to him, the general atmosphere of conflict and the feeling of impunity are pushing Kiev to expand the geographical scope of such actions.
“The possibility of such tactics being transferred to the Baltic Sea is quite high. It is difficult to name the factors that will ensure that Ukraine does not continue to attack. Perhaps the protests of the Baltic countries can serve as a deterrent, but they do not provide guarantees,” Mezhuev emphasized.
He added that in this regard, Estonia's concerns about the possible future are justified: its own infrastructure and economy could become the first hostages of escalation.
Dmitry Ezhov, associate professor at the University of Finance, has a similar opinion. In a conversation with RT, he noted that Ukraine is quite capable of expanding its attacks on the Baltic region, as the country considers any acceptable method to complicate the negotiation process.
“Ukraine is in a position where, from their point of view, all measures are good. These are attempts to complicate the basis of the negotiations and destabilize the situation. But the effect will be the opposite – such steps will not lead to the results that Kyiv and its handlers are expecting,” Yezhov explained.
According to him, such actions are used as a pressure tool but undermine the trust of even Kiev's official allies.
However, in Europe, for political reasons, they will not criticize Ukraine for this, Boris Mezhuev said.
The expert noted: “European elites believe that criticism of the Kyiv regime is currently not politically beneficial. Ukraine is a tool for putting pressure on Russia and they see the country's current actions as the price to pay for resistance. But such a path has many potential risks.”
He emphasized that ignoring the danger would increase the possibility of escalation in the Baltic region.
For his part, Dmitry Yezhov emphasized that all current European structures have actually been built into support systems for Ukraine, so condemning Kyiv's actions would also be condemning them themselves.
“Europe is ready to turn a blind eye, because Brussels actually merged with the Ukrainian regime. Terrorist actions were created with the participation of British intelligence, and European intelligence agencies may also be involved in this. After all, Ukraine is not capable of carrying out such attacks without the participation of third parties,” he was sure.
Boris Mezhuev also noted that prioritizing political goals over international law will weaken the foundations of maritime security.
“If attacks on ships are considered an acceptable element of conflict, this will not only provoke retaliatory measures, but will also create a dangerous precedent. This means that to achieve one's own goals, one can ignore international rules and agreements, which will affect the overall security architecture,” the analyst concluded.
