Media: Armed Russian tanker with machine guns reportedly spotted in Gulf of Finland

Estonian border guards reportedly recorded the first instance of a civilian Russian tanker armed with machine guns in the Gulf of Finland in May.

The Estonian outlet Eesti Ekspress was the first to obtain aerial photographs taken from an Estonian border guard surveillance aircraft, showing a machine gun on board the Russian vessel Marshal Vasilevsky – a Gazprom LNG tanker carrying liquefied gas from mainland Russia to the Kaliningrad Oblast.

The footage, taken in early May, is described as the first evidence that a Russian tanker may be armed.

It is believed the machine guns may have been installed on board in the event of a Ukrainian drone attack in the area of Saint Petersburg's ports or in case an attempt is made to stop the tanker.

On 23 June, French military forces detained a sanctioned Russian shadow fleet tanker in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Sicily. This was already France's fifth interception of Russian tankers.

Finland recently concluded its investigation into damage to undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland caused by the vessel Fitburg.