Kremlin official says Russian navy to stop West’s seizure of merchant ships
Russian official says Western powers seizing sanctioned vessels carrying Moscow’s oil commit ‘piracy-like attacks’.

Russian official says Western powers seizing sanctioned vessels carrying Moscow’s oil commit ‘piracy-like attacks’.







![Two man stand looking towards the damaged nineteen-story hotel "Odessa", in the port city of Odesa, on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine [File: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AFP__20250319__376Q2B7__v1__HighRes__UkraineRussiaConflictWar-1742915824.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

Ageing ships flying false flags are used to avoid Western sanctions on Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil.

Singapore has reported a rise in rogue tankers carrying sanctioned cargo through its shipping lanes.
The Gujarati town accounts for nearly 98 percent of India’s total and about a third of the global ship recycling volume.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian attacks ‘had no … military purpose whatsoever’.
Investigators say faulty wiring and two blackouts led the ship’s pilots to lose control of propulsion and steering.
The Houthis’ maritime campaign has killed at least nine mariners and seen four ships sunk.
Operation Atalanta says entire crew of 24 people on the Hellas Aphrodite is safe and no injuries reported.
A Malta-flagged tanker heading from Sikka, India, to Durban, South Africa, was targeted by suspected Somali pirates.
US President Donald Trump said the deal had been negotiated over the last four to five months.
Cameroon-flagged MV Falcon issues distress call about 60 nautical miles (110km) south of Yemen’s Ahwar in Gulf of Aden.