US seizes Russian-flagged tanker after 2-week pursuit

The US seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was being shadowed by a Russian submarine on Wednesday, after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic as part of a US "blockade" of Venezuelan oil exports, two US officials said.

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This appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the US military has seized a Russian-flagged vessel.

The operation took place after the tanker, originally known as the Bella-I, slipped through a US maritime blockade of sanctioned tankers in the Caribbean and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it.

The seizure effort was first reported by Reuters.

In a post on X, the US military's European Command said the Trump administration had seized the vessel for violating US sanctions.

"The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT-anywhere in the world," US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in reply to that post.

The US officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday's operation near Iceland was being carried out by the Coast Guard and US military.

The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The officials said Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity of the operation, including a Russian submarine.