Russia threatens to deploy navy to protect vessels from ‘western piracy’

Official says blockade on ‘shadow fleet’ would be illegal, and raises prospect of retaliation against European vesselsA senior Russian official has said Moscow could deploy its navy to protect Russian-linked vessels from potential European seizures, raising the prospect of retaliatory action against European shipping as pressure on the Kremlin’s so-called shadow fleet intensifies.Nikolai Patrushev, a former FSB director who now heads Russia’s maritime board, said on Tuesday that the country’s navy should be ready to counter what he described as “western piracy”. Continue reading...