Tanker seized by US linked to Moldovan oligarch and ally of former Ukrainian politician
The tanker Marinera, formerly known as Bella 1 and detained by the US Coast Guard on 7 January, is said to have ties to fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor and a former Ukrainian politician from Odesa.
The journalists by Current Time, a Russian-language TV channel set up by Radio Liberty and VOA, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have established that the tanker is linked to "friends of the Kremlin" – Ilan Shor and Viktor Baranskyi, a former member of Odesa City Council from the Opposition Platform – For Life party, which is banned in Ukraine.
The tanker changed ownership during weeks of pursuit, moving from a Turkish company to Russia's Burevestmarin firm and obtaining permission to fly the Russian flag.
The investigation says that Ilya Bugai, from Chita and listed as Burevestnik's CEO, also heads the Moscow-based company Rusneftekhimtorg, which supplies fuel, including for tankers. Several foreign buyers are listed among the firm's customers. A common feature is that the companies are registered in the names of women living in Moldova.
At least two of the women previously appeared in an investigation by Verstka, an independent Russian news outlet operating in exile, into a shadow tanker fleet reportedly linked to Viktor Baranskyi. In 2021, organisations associated with him were blacklisted under US sanctions for transporting Venezuelan oil.
The journalists also say that Rusneftekhimtorg used a tanker considered to be linked to Baranskyi and traded with a company close to Baranskyi's informal holding company.
The investigation has also established that Rusneftekhimtorg had taken out a loan from Russia's Nefteprombank, which later lost its licence and went bankrupt. In settling the debt, Rusneftekhimtorg transferred claims against a third company, Diamand Estate, to the lender. Since 2022, Diamand Estate has owned two TV channels in Moldova and has been linked to people close to Shor. Shor has also been suspected of siphoning funds from Nefteprombank, but the case ended without any legal consequences for him.
The journalists said that Shor has been based in Moscow in recent years and, with Russian backing, has sought to bring political forces he controls in Moldova to power. Payments to members of his network are channelled through Russia's Promsvyazbank.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Baranskyi became a suspect in criminal cases concerning treason, support for Russian forces and the misappropriation of barges owned by a shipping company. He was later stripped of Ukrainian citizenship and his seat on the city council. He fled to Russia, where he joined a new project led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian businessman and pro-Russian politician to whose daughter Putin is godfather.
On 7 January, the US military took control of two tankers, including a Russian-flagged vessel it had pursued for more than two weeks. The vessels have been accused of breaching sanctions. The crews may face trial in the US.
Vice President JD Vance said that the tanker Bella 1, later re-registered in Russia as Marinera, merely posed as Russian in order to circumvent sanctions and avoid accountability.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said that US President Donald Trump had decided to release two Russians from the detained tanker. Reports have suggested that many of the crew are Ukrainian citizens. Kyiv is checking the reports.