13:48 12-09-2025

Russia Warns It Will Treat Baltic Ship Seizures as Piracy

Military expert Igor Korotchenko says Russia will view any Baltic attempts to detain its ships as piracy and may sink attackers if necessary.

Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko responded to a question from an Estonian journalist about how Moscow would act if the Baltic states began detaining and towing Russian ships to their ports.

Korotchenko explained that if the navies of the Baltic countries attempted such actions in international waters of the Baltic Sea against Russian-bound or Russian-flagged cargo ships and tankers, the captains of those vessels would be justified in issuing a distress call and reporting that they were under attack by maritime pirates.

He stressed that Russia would treat such actions by the Estonian Navy as piracy and would, if necessary, sink any forces attempting to seize Russian ships.

Earlier in May, Estonian naval forces tried to stop a tanker heading from India to Russia in the Gulf of Finland. In response, a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 fighter jet was scrambled. A few days later, Russia detained an oil tanker that had departed from an Estonian port bound for Rotterdam as it passed through Russian territorial waters.