As Russia seeks to expand its power at sea, there are fears that Britain does not have the firepower to protect its own cargo ships.

Multiple defence planners have revealed that they are concerned about potential Russian ‘hijackings’ of British ships in the Indo-Pacific.

It comes after earlier this week, when Vladimir Putin urged his Navy to ‘detain’ any European ships as payback for Europe’s initiative to crack down on Russia’s shadow fleet.

In July, Keir Starmer announced that a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker was intercepted in the English Channel.

The SMYRTOS vessel has been anchored off the English south coast and monitored since the seizure.

But former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West, told the Telegraph: ‘Our Navy has been reduced and reduced and reduced and we do not have enough ships to fulfil our role to look after global shipping.

‘It’s extraordinary that successive governments have allowed us to reduce our Navy in such a way. The patrol ships are there to show a presence. But going back 30 years ago, there were four or five ships that would be steaming around here, not just two.’

Sir Ben Wallace, former Conservative defence secretary, told the Telegraph: ‘The first response to Putin’s comments should be to work with allies such as France to ensure we burden-share across the globe, escort or protection duties.’

As tensions at sea flare, the UK government has continued to defend seizing the Russian tanker last month despite fears it could spark wider issues for British ships.

The Ministry of Defence cited Russia’s fleet of hundreds of sanctioned vessels, which carry oil around the world.

By intercepting one of these ships, the MoD said, it hit a ‘critical lifeline for the Kremlin in sustaining Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.’

Earlier this summer, Russia launched hundreds of drones and covert UAVs across Britain and Europe from their shadow fleet in preparation for a future conflict.

The International Institute of Strategic Studies issued a sobering report in which they found that Putin’s shadow fleet ships sent drones into Britain and Europe, targeting airports, bases and nuclear sites.

Among the sites affected by the spy drones were RAF Fairford, Feltwell, Lakenheath and Mildenhall, and dozens of sites across continental Europe.

‘We assess it is likely that Russian-linked vessels and the ‘shadow fleet’ were used as launch or recovery platforms for UAVs as part of the Kremlin’s wider unconventional war on Europe,’ they warned.

For years, leading experts in the UK have been warning that Russia is already ‘at war’ with the UK.

Cyber threats, mysterious drone incursions and more have been attributed to foreign actors. In late 2024, it was reported that a ‘record number of incidents’ impacted the UK’s ‘critical’ drinking water supplies in 2024 – without being officially disclosed, according to Recorded Future News.  

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