# Russia's shadow war at sea

An episode of [The Slow Newscast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1487320403), 3 Feb 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/the-tortoise-podcast/e/6980c27dd77e5e94dc72b962/media.mp3

There are over a thousand oil tankers at sea that are helping finance Russia's war in Ukraine in plain sight. And they're not just trading in sanctioned oil, they're sabotaging the very infrastructure we all rely on. The UK and EU know about them, they pass right by our coasts, but so far have been unable to stop them at any sort of scale. This is the story of a shadow ship, sailing its way through sanctions, sabotage and subterfuge. Credits: Reporter/Producer: Matt Russell Sound design: Dominic Delargy Artwork: Lola Williams Executive Producer: Gary Marshall Editor: Jasper Corbett Subscribe to The Observer today: https://observer.co.uk/subscribe And get access to: Our podcasts before anyone else A daily edition, curated by our editors 7 days a week Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword Recipes for every occasion Free tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online Click here to subscribe today for just £1 for your first month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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