Kremlin Criticizes US Oil Tanker Seizure, Says Ship Had Permission to Use Russian Flag

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday criticized the United States’ operation to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean a day earlier, saying that the ship was given temporary permission to use the flag.

The U.S. European Command wrote that it seized the tanker, the M/V Bella 1, and said it was suspected of carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela. Other U.S. officials indicated that crew members on the ship did not yield to Coast Guard commands and that criminal charges may be pursued.

The Russian ministry, in a statement issued on Telegram, wrote that the tanker was “granted temporary permission to sail under the State Flag of the Russian Federation, issued in accordance with Russian legislation and the norms of international law” on Dec. 24. It used another name for the Bella 1, the Marinera.

“In the open sea beyond the territorial waters of any state, U.S. naval forces boarded the vessel. Communication with the ship was subsequently lost,” the statement added. “In accordance with the provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the high seas are governed by the principle of freedom of navigation, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states.”

The seizure of the Bella 1 was one of two operations carried out by the U.S. military on Wednesday. Another ship, the Sophia, was seized in the Caribbean Sea, with officials saying that it was not flagged.

Writing in a post on X, the U.S. Southern Command said the Sophia was “conducting illicit activities” at the time of the seizure. The vessel is now being taken to the United States for its “final disposition,” command officials said.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote on X that a “blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT,” while the White House described both seized tankers as members of a “ghost fleet” of tankers operating in Atlantic and Caribbean waters.

“Both vessels were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it,” the post said.

The Department of Justice is investigating crew members of the Bella 1 for not obeying Coast Guard orders and said criminal charges may be brought in the case, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a post on X.

Her office is currently “monitoring several other vessels for similar enforcement action,” she wrote in her post, adding that “anyone on any vessel who fails to obey instructions of the Coast Guard or other federal officials will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The two ships join at least two others that were taken by U.S. forces last month: the Skipper and the Centuries.

The Trump administration has said that it intends to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following its ouster of former leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime operation. Besides the United States enforcing an existing oil embargo, the Energy Department stated that “the only oil transported in and out of Venezuela” will be through approved channels consistent with U.S. law and national security interests.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suggested that the oil taken from the sanctioned vessels seized in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea would be sold as part of the deal announced by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, under which Venezuela would provide up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.