flag to avoid sanctions on oil and help fund its war in Ukraine. Ministers identified a legal basis in January that would allow forces to board sanctioned vessels, but approval for the military measure was not given by the prime minister until Thursday. Questioned on why that decision had not come sooner, John Healey told BBC Radio 4's Today programme "what operations like this require is training, preparation, understanding discussion with allies [and] a clear legal basis". Healey said these points were now "lined up and ready" and the decision represented "a signal that we will take action when we see illegal and sanctioned shadow ships". "This is a signal to Putin that he may want us to be distracted by the Middle East but we're ready to act," he added. Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the UK's decision to seize sanctioned vessels was a "timely move, particularly now when global pressure on Russia is quietly loosening". "It is hardly a secret that Russia funnels illegal oil revenues directly into its war machine," he said in a post on X.

"Anything that cuts off that flow brings peace closer and makes Europe safer. Sanctioned tankers must be stopped, their oil seized." Analysis by BBC Verify suggested that dozens of sanctioned vessels sailed through the English Channel in the weeks after the legal mechanism was identified in January. Ministers are keen to emphasize the threat still posed by Russia, despite much of Whitehall's attention being focused on the war in the Middle East in recent weeks.  (BBC)