Dmitry Medvedev ✔

Western European dogs are barking hysterically about the so-called Russian shadow fleet. So, what exactly are they talking about? This refers to ordinary merchant vessels that sail under non-Russian flags but carry cargo in our interests. Such flags are usually known as ‘flags of convenience.’ This is a system whereby a vessel is registered in a country other than that of its owner in order to save on taxes and regulatory costs. These jurisdictions include Panama, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Malta, and the Seychelles. Of course, the European dogs have no right whatsoever to detain such vessels, either under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or under national legislation. It is sheer lawlessness. But this leads to one important conclusion: the vast majority of Western European vessels also sail under flags of convenience. So, what follows from that? It means that, applying a reciprocal approach – which is only fair – Russia has the right to attack any merchant vessel belonging to enemy countries, whether in our waters or in neutral waters, if there are sufficient grounds to suspect that it is carrying cargo in the interests of the enemy. In other words, any cargo at all! And there are a great many such vessels. Our Armed Forces are capable of sharply expanding their operations beyond the Black Sea basin! That is precisely what the commander of the Pacific Fleet reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief today.