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The Baltic Sea has a new Sheriff!

Juin

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Problem is new Sheriff is a midget. The tiny Republic of Estonia. 1.4 million inhabitants. Defended by an udersized 2 Brigade Division. Rather small. But what little Estonia may lack in size it more than makes up in balls. Which is admirable considering the tiny Republic of Estonia shares some 183 miles of border with the Russian Federation. That should cause many to pause, not the Three Baltic Midgets. Especially when backed by a Nato Article 5 Badge.

Russian Federation: "What kind of midgets are you?"

The Three Baltic Midgets: "You know what we are? We are your worst ****in' nightmare, man. We are midgets with Nato Article 5 badges. Which means we got permission to kick your ****in' Russia ass whenever we feel like it!"



April 11th, 2025 Little Estonia set out to do just that. Acting on a tip- I suspect from His Britannic Majesty's Dirty Tricks Dept- pointing to the presence of a Federation "ghost" tanker off the coast of Estonia, ships of the Estonian Navy set off to check its papers. The ship's papers were not in order. It was detained by the Estonian Baltic Midget, It was all smooth. It worked like a charm. No nastiness from the bear. Why not repeat it?

May 15th Little Estonia did just that. Acting on a tip it set off after another Federation "ghost" ship, the Jaguar. This time there was an unpleasant intervention. A Federation Su-35 Fighter Jet made an appearance. Out gunned, the Estonian Baltic Midget had to beat a retreat. It was not supposed to be that way. The bear did not respect Estonia's Nato Article 5 Badge. This was duly reported to Nato. What good is a Nato Article 5 Badge if one is deprived the pleasure of kicking Russians around?

Then came May 18th. A black day for the Estonian Baltic Midget. The indignity of it all. A Russian vessel (s)- the real thing this time; not some unarmed "ghost" ship- accosted the General Admire, a Greek owned oil tanker exiting Estonian waters and took it under tow to a Russian port! The roar of protest from the Estonian Baltic Midget carried all the way to Bruxelles. So far none of Nato heavyweights have come to the rescue of the Midget in distress.

I have a feeling we have not heard the last from the area, is the Baltic Sea about to explode?

Will the Estonian Baltic Midget retaliate by seeking out and boarding more of Russia's "ghost" fleet?

Shouldn't baiting the bear be left up to His Britannic Majesty?



Estonia seizes Russian shadow tanker in Baltic Sea

The ghost vessel was “quite clearly” part of Moscow’s dark fleet, says one official.
www.politico.eu
 
Interesting move on the Kremlin's part....outing itself:


Until last week, a secretive fleet of ships ferrying Russian oil around the world showed no clear links to the Kremlin. That changed when, in a dramatic escalation, Russia used a fighter jet in an apparent effort to protect one of the tankers thought to be in the fleet.

After the Estonian military contacted the Jaguar – an unflagged tanker sanctioned by the United Kingdom earlier this month – on May 13 in an attempt to carry out checks, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet flew past the ship, inside Estonian airspace, the Estonian Defense Forces said. The military eventually escorted the tanker out of Estonian waters.

“This is something very new,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters Thursday at a NATO meeting in Turkey. Russia has now “officially tied and connected itself” to the so-called shadow fleet, he added.

Others agree. “This seems to be a step-change in Kremlin thinking,” Ed Arnold, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a UK-based think tank, told CNN.

Estimated to be hundreds of vessels strong, with no official ties to Russia, the “shadow fleet” includes many old, poorly maintained ships, which have in some instances wreaked environmental havoc and, according to some, have been implicated in damage to vital undersea cables off the Baltic coast. Russia has denied any role in the damage.

The tankers, many with opaque ownership structures, transport Russian oil for export to avoid Western sanctions. As such, they have themselves become a focus of further sanctions on Moscow....


`````````````````````

Btw, Russia's decision to step in and protect not just a vessel carrying a flag of convenience, but one that is unflagged, shows how lawless putin has become. Unflagged ships violate maritime law.

So, you might chortle that this represents some kind of victory for Mother Russia over tiny, powerless Estonia....when in fact it's anything but.
 


...For the Estonians, the Russian jet’s intrusion into Estonian air space is proof that Western sanctions are biting.

The incident “demonstrates that monitoring and sanctioning the shadow fleet is effective and that such efforts must be further intensified,” the Estonian Defense Forces said in a statement.

CNN was not able to locate the registered owner of the Jaguar for comment. The Russian Ministry of Defense has declined to respond to CNN’s request for comment. The Kremlin has previously refused to respond to accusations that it uses a “shadow fleet.”...

Estonian authorities have conducted more than 450 checks on vessels in Tallinn-controlled waters in the Baltic Sea since last June, according to the country’s transport ministry. This includes the Gulf of Finland, one of the principal conduits for Russian overseas trade.
 

Russians running oil on illegally flagged ships.

Imagine that.
 
I had to laugh when I read this...

Western authorities have stepped up efforts to seize the illegal tankers, and have even mulled sinking them. Estonia’s parliament approved a new law Wednesday allowing the country’s navy to use "military force" on commercial vessels suspected of posing a “threat” to its subsea critical infrastructure.​

Right. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

You care about subsea critical infrastructure, so what do you do? Why, sink an oil-laden tanker right into it.

SMH
 
You might have mentioned that some of 'His Britannic Majesty's' soldiers are permanently based in Estonia.
 
Yeah, that's not what it says.
 
People who identify with Russia are like people who passionately identify with large piles of greasy rubbish on poorly maintained access roads. It's their time and calories to squander, and waste them they are doing; the rubbish heap nonetheless never notices them.
 
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