War could erupt between Russia and the West within days, a Kremlin-aligned blogger has warned, in response to threats by the European Union to seize oil tankers in the Baltic Sea.
Sergey Markov, a propagandist who keeps up a steady stream of pro-Russian posts on social media, was commenting on reports that the bloc is planning drastic action in response to Russia’s circumvention of oil sanctions, coupled with the potential environmental hazards posed by its ageing fleet.
Most recently, an explosion in Ust-Luga port west of St Petersburg on Sunday forced the crew of the Koala to evacuate and was being investigated, Russia’s Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport confirmed.
In comments attributed to him by former Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Geraschenko, Markov warned: “A new war can break out in the Baltic Sea within weeks. European Union is preparing a pirate seizing of the Russian oil vessels.
“Now they are sitting there, thinking of pseudo lawful arguments. And they are taking trial steps. One Russian tanker has already been seized by the state pirate-ship of Finland – and Russia didn’t issue any reaction.
“As per usual, it has just expressed concern with words.”
Markov continued: “Now, a military grouping of the NATO countries is also being prepared to provide for pirate capturing of the Russian ships and the new trial steps.”
What he called the “pirate aggression in the Baltics” would follow a similar pattern to the war in Ukraine, Markov claimed.
He explained: “In hope that Russia won’t react to each of those tiny steps: ‘Slow-boiling the Russian frog’.
“War in the Baltics is at Europe’s doorstep. Madmen from Brussels, Stockholm, Helsinki, Warsaw, Vilnius, Copenhagen, London – are ready to start it within weeks. Maybe even days.”
The Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – have taken significant steps to reduce their dependence on Russian energy.
In particular, they have disconnected from the Russian electricity grid, integrating instead with the European Union’s system.
Russian MP and Duma’s defence committee deputy head Alexey Zhuravlev told state-aligned news agency Abzats that “any act of assault on our ships in the Baltic Sea should be regarded as an attack on Russian territory”.
He said: “The Baltic states can do whatever they want: pass laws that they alone like, disconnect themselves from the Russian power grid. But this is nothing more than clownery.
“Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania combined have such ‘powerful’ navies that two large-caliber machine guns mounted aboard any tanker would be enough to send that entire maritime patrol to the bottom.
“They will again turn to NATO for help. But, hopefully, the United States, which, in fact, runs the alliance, will have people much more sensible than those in the failed Baltic states.”
European countries are considering measures to tighten inspections and enable the confiscation of tankers transporting Russian oil through the Baltic Sea.
Proposals include invoking international law to seize vessels on environmental or piracy grounds, given the risks they pose to undersea infrastructure.