Why isn’t the UK stopping Putin’s shadow fleet?
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2026
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When is a shadow fleet not a shadow fleet?
Perhaps when it’s shipping millions of dollars' worth of crude oil through the English Channel in broad daylight.
The UK has imposed sanctions on the Russian oil trade since the start of the full invasion of Ukraine - but tankers helping to fund Putin’s war machine are operating in the Channel with apparent impunity.
Niall is joined by Sky’s business correspondent Paul Kelso - who trailed some of these ‘shadow fleet’ vessels in the English Channel.
Producers: Paul Wilkinson and Tom Gillespie
Editor: Mike Bovill
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sky News, the full story first. |
| 0:09.8 | Every month, dozens of tankers carry Russian oil through the English Channel |
| 0:15.9 | right under the noses of Ukraine's European allies. |
| 0:19.4 | So why aren't we stopping Putin's shadow fleet? |
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| 1:34.8 | We're now four years into Russia's war with Ukraine, |
| 1:37.7 | and despite several rounds of economic sanctions by the West, |
| 1:39.2 | the latest just this week, in fact, |
| 1:43.5 | Vladimir Putin seems to have more than enough money to keep on fighting. |
| 1:45.1 | Well, part of the reason the Russian economy remains afloat can be seen sailing past the White Cliffs of Dover. |
| 1:49.5 | Over 400 ships a day come down through the shipping lanes. So, but when you see these |
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