Monitoring data from June 16, 2025, indicates that russia for the first time deployed a Navy warship to escort tankers from its so-called "shadow fleet." Notably, the convoy passed through the English Channel.
Guarding the tankers was the Boykiy missile corvette, a Project 20380 Steregushchiy–class warship armed with Kh-35 Uran anti-ship missiles. The tankers under protection were Selva (under UK sanctions) and Sierra (under both UK and EU sanctions), according to Army Recognition.
Read more: russia Deploys 11 Warships for Baltic Navy Drills After Europe Starts Seizing "Shadow Fleet" Tankers
The report cites analyst Mark Douglas from Starboard Maritime Intelligence Ltd, who based his conclusions on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. The tankers were tracked heading toward russian ports to load oil.
The Starboard team sees this as a Kremlin signal of readiness to use military force to protect sanctioned oil shipments. On the other hand, russia continues to try and conceal the shadow fleet's movements — for instance, Selva was initially flagged to Panama before being updated to Palau, likely to complicate tracking.
Defense Express notes that, back in April 2025, russia had already sent 11 Baltic Fleet ships out on maneuvers, shortly after European authorities began detaining shadow fleet tankers. That move was an early sign that Moscow might resort to using military force for protecting its smuggling routes.
Whether russia will now scale up this practice remains an open question. But Boykiy’s involvement is notable: it previously served in escort missions during the so-called "Syrian Express" across the Black Sea, a supply route shut down by Ukrainian naval drones.
Key specifications of the Boykiy corvette:
- Displacement: 2,250 tons
- Dimensions: 104 meters long, 13 meters wide
- Speed and Range: 27 knots max speed; 4,000 nautical miles at 14 knots
- Autonomy and Crew: 15 days; 100 personnel
- Armament:
- 1 × 100mm A-190 naval gun
- 2 × 30mm AK-630M CIWS
- 8 × Kh-35 Uran anti-ship missiles
- Redut SAM system (12 missiles)
- 2 × four-tube 330mm torpedo launchers
- 1 × Ka-27PL ASW helicopter
- 1 × Orlan-10 reconnaissance UAV
The Kh-35 Uran, depending on version, has a range of 130 km in baseline version, doubled to 230 km in the improved Kh-35U. Its 145 kg high-explosive penetrating warhead can sink corvette-sized vessels,similarly to the hypersonic Zircon missile.
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