The Estonian navy detained and boarded a Russia-bound oil tanker on an EU sanctions list on Friday, accusing it of sailing illegally without a valid country flag.

Early on Friday morning, the Estonian Navy intercepted the tanker Kiwala, a ship belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet." These vessels enable Russia to circumvent the sanctions imposed by the West in response to the military invasion of Ukraine carried out by Vladimir Putin's forces in 2022.

Estonia’s navy stopped and boarded a sanctioned, Russia-bound vessel in the Baltic Sea on Friday over its insurance status and suspicions that the vessel belonged to Moscow’s shadow fleet, which facilitates the illicit trade in Russian oil.