Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Thursday, the 15th of May, that Russia had sent a military plane because the Estonian navy was trying to intercept a possible shadow fleet tanker which was under new British sanctions, accusing it of sailing illegally without a flag, reports Reuters.
After the Jaguar, which was placed on the UK sanctions list last Friday, refused to cooperate by not allowing boarding, the Estonian navy said it was escorted to Russian waters.
“The Russian Federation sent a fighter jet to check the situation and it violated NATO territory for almost one minute,” Estonia’s foreign minister told reporters in the Turkish city of Antalya.
“We have to understand that Russia has officially tried and linked itself to the Russian shadow fleet,” he said, speaking ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. “The Russian Federation is ready to protect the shadow fleet… The situation is really serious.”
The Jaguar is one of more than 100 ships in the Russian shadow fleet.
Military aircraft from a NATO mission based in the Baltic States took off to inspect the Russian vessel, said the minister, who previously urged on X to “impose tougher sanctions and faster” on Russia in response.
Britain has said its sanctions, which restrict or ban the movement of a “shadow fleet” and access to some of its ports, will curb Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war efforts.
Navy escorts suspected shadow fleet tanker
The Jaguar was near the island of Naisaar, off Tallinn, when the Estonian Navy contacted it by radio on Tuesday, Commander Ivo Vark told Reuters. As the vessel was “stateless”, Estonia “had the obligation to check the vessel’s documents and legal status”, Vark said.
“The ship refused to cooperate and continued on its way towards Russia… Given that the vessel had no nationality, the use of force, including boarding, was not considered necessary.” The Estonian patrol escorted the Jaguar until it reached Russian waters, Vark added.
“The Jaguar was anchored near the Russian port of Primorsk on Thursday, according to maritime traffic data. It was registered under the flag of the Central African country of Gabon.
Reuters asked Vark to comment on a video posted on X, which allegedly shows an attempt to board. He did not answer whether the incident was related to the alleged violation of Estonian airspace by a Russian Su-35 warplane on Tuesday, for which the country has protested.
The video, taken from a tanker with an IMO identification number matching that of the Jaguar, shows a naval patrol vessel, a helicopter and a patrol aircraft circling in the vicinity of the tanker.
“This is an Estonian warship… follow my instructions, change course to 105 immediately,” comes a voice on the radio. A voice in Russian off-camera says: “We are being met by helicopters, they are demanding that we anchor.”
A military aircraft that does not belong to Estonia is also seen nearby.
Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russian state media RT, who posted the video on X, said the plane was a Russian Su-35 sent to prevent the ship from being detained.
The Estonian Navy tried to intercept the JAGUAR tanker flying the flag of Gabon in the international waters of the Gulf of Finland, on the beam of Tallinn. The ship was bound for the Russian port of Primorsk. pic.twitter.com/Dqql92lx1p
— Capt(N) (@Capt_Navy) May 14, 2025
In another incident on the 11th of April, Estonia detained and boarded the Russian-owned oil tanker Kiwala, accusing it of sailing without a valid national flag. The tanker cooperated and was released two weeks later.