The kremlin’s Provocative Policy Is Causing Outrage Even Among the Captains of the rf’s “Shadow Fleet”

The kremlin is doing its best to turn the vessels of russia’s “shadow fleet” into legitimate military targets for Ukraine and its partners. Mobile fire teams, large-caliber weapons, and other “special” equipment have been detected on board civilian tankers.

Such provocative policies by the kremlin increase the risk of naval incidents involving civilian vessels and also make the russian “shadow fleet” even more vulnerable.

russian sailors themselves confirm this fact. In particular, there has been documented a collective appeal to n. patrushev by 14 captains of the rf’s “shadow fleet”, condemning the kremlin’s decision to station military personnel and weapons aboard civilian vessels.

According to the russian sailors’ assessment, taking on board armed persons poses the risk that the vessel could lose its civilian status and be recognized as an auxiliary military means or a legitimate military target in case of any incident.

At the same time, this will significantly complicate the entry of vessels from the rf’s “shadow fleet” into the ports of “friendly” countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and also threatens the cancellation of insurance policies issued by companies that are members of the international association of marine insurers, the P&I Club.

However, the kremlin has never heeded the opinions of the “representatives of the people”. It has no intention of changing its ways this time either. Under the control of russian intelligence agencies, fighters from so-called “private military companies” are being trained to carry out operations in armed groups of 4–5 people aboard ships of the “shadow fleet”.  Apart from already authorized russian PMCs, such as “moran security” and “rsb–group,” the lesser-known company “katenga” (registered in the rf at the following address: murmansk, 53 kapitana orlikova st., flat 45) has also been drawn into this process.

In 2025–2026, the presence of mercenaries from russian PMCs was documented on the following vessels of the rf’s “shadow fleet”:

“Boracay” (IMO 9332810), “Lebre” (IMO 9255672), “Kira K” (IMO 9346720), “Siraj” (IMO 9319703), “Tango 2” (IMO 9389071), “Aqua Titan” (IMO 9332781), “Selva” (IMO 9336426), “Viktor Bakaev” (IMO 9610810), “Fiesta” (IMO 9260823), “Mystery” (IMO 9332834), “Night Glory” (IMO 9319674), “Qasr” (IMO 9402471), “Kairos” (IMO 9236004), “Virat” (IMO 9832559), “Dashan” (IMO 9299666), and “Andromeda Star” (IMO 9402471).