Warships of the Royal Dutch Navy "for the 2nd time in a short time" closely followed Russian ships in the North Sea. Information revealed by Dutch Acting Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans on January 21.
He said that the Netherlands' move is based on the fact that Russian ships are said to be "able to be used to collect intelligence and map maritime infrastructure". "We are still vigilant and ready to respond" - TASS quoted Dutch Acting Minister of Defense Brekelmans on social network account X.
For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova repeatedly declared that EU and NATO countries are deliberately fabricating and exaggerating the "threat from Russia" to shift people's attention away from economic issues.
She emphasized that the EU's economic problems have reached serious levels, mainly due to the impact of sanctions against Russia imposed by the West.
Also informing about Russian ships, on January 21, The Maritime Executive reported that the Russian military oil tanker General Skobelev regularly appeared in the British Strait and Gibraltar Strait as well as frequently moved from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and vice versa to support Russian activities.
During this trip, tensions between Russia and Europe were higher than usual and Skobelev was escorted by the Russian Navy's Boiky destroyer throughout the journey through the North Sea.
The Royal Dutch Navy dispatched the patrol ship GSS Galatea to monitor and monitor Skobelev during the northward trip. This is the 2nd time Galatea has monitored Russian ships through this waterway route in 1 week. Galatea is a small patrol ship, belonging to the group of unarmed civilian ships hired by the navy to perform monitoring and escort missions.
A statement from the Dutch Ministry of Defense said that the supervision of Skobelev "shows vigilance and prevents Russian ships from destroying submarine infrastructure".
We know that these Russian ships can be used to spy and map important marine infrastructure. That is why we are still vigilant and ready to respond" - Dutch Defense Minister in charge Ruben Brekelmans stated in a statement.
The General Skobelev ship is always followed by ship observers every time it passes through the English Channel. However, the most recent trip of the Russian military oil tanker took place in the context of escalating tensions between London and Moscow over oil tankers belonging to the Russian "dark fleet".
Britain and its partners in Europe have begun to show interest in a stronger enforcement policy towards the "dark fleet" - ships that are often not fully insured, have no nationality, and are generally old ships, transporting Russian export crude oil to evade sanctions.
Last week, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper attended a ship inspection exercise organized by the Finnish forces. She shared with Politico that Britain is ready to consider some common European enforcement efforts in response to the "dark fleet".
In response to this statement, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin warned that oil tankers of the "dark fleet" passing through this area could soon be escorted by the Russian navy.
