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‘Irregular’ armed guards aboard Russian shadow tankers alarm Nordic-Baltic governments
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The seizure of a Russian-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic has highlighted «worry» among NATO and Nordic-Baltic governments over dark fleet vessels and the type of crews onboard, according to a maritime intelligence analyst.
U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel boarded the Marinera between Iceland and the U.K. Wednesday as it operated under deceptive shipping practices, including flying a false flag and violating sanctions.
And according to Reuters, Russian authorities demanded the humane treatment and repatriation of the crew members.
Windward maritime intelligence analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann claimed the Marinera’s ownership had just been transferred to Burevestmarin LLC, a Russian company.
TREASURY TARGETS OIL TRADERS, TANKERS ACCUSED OF HELPING MADURO EVADE U.S. SANCTIONS
U.S. forces seized the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker in the North Atlantic Sea, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, according to the U.S. military. (US European Command)
«We do not know the status of these sailors and seafarers, who are Russian nationals,» Wiese Bockmann told Fox News Digital.
«That lack of clarity is common with dark fleet tankers,» she added.
«The Marinera did have its ownership transferred to a newly formed Russian company, with the registered owner, ship manager and commercial manager being Burevestmarin LLC,» Wiese Bockmann clarified.
She also suggested NATO and the Nordic-Baltic 8+ group of governments have been «worried» about sanctioned oil tankers with unauthorized personnel onboard, including «armed guards.»
WORLD’S BIGGEST OIL RESERVE HOLDER FACES US CHOKEHOLD AS TRUMP TARGETS VENEZUELA’S SHADOW TANKER FLEET
U.S. forces seized the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker in the North Atlantic Sea, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, according to the U.S. military. (US European Command)
«Increasingly, and I know the Nordic Baltic 8+ governments are worried about the fact that you are having unauthorized people also on board, also known as armed guards,» Wiese Bockmann said. «But it is highly irregular.»
«Armed guards are rarely seen and typically used on ships that are transiting the Gulf of aden or the Red Sea and are therefore assessed as at risk from attack by houthis or pirates,» she added.
Following the seizure, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected Russian demands for special treatment of the Marinera’s crew during her regular briefing Wednesday.
«This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that had transported sanctioned oil,» Leavitt said.
«The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order, and that’s why the crew will be subject to prosecution.»
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was «closely following» the situation, according to the state-run TASS news agency.
US COAST GUARD PURSUES THIRD ‘DARK FLEET’ OIL TANKER AS TRUMP TARGETS VENEZUELAN SANCTIONS EVASION NETWORK
A crude oil tanker waits its turn to be loaded with crude oil at Lake Maracaibo in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela on May 9, 2025. (Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)
Wiese Bockmann noted that dark fleet crews are often multinational, typically involving a Russian master with Chinese, Indian or Filipino crew members.
«There is a blurring of commercial and military shipping around the dark fleet,» she said. «What we’re seeing now is something that has really only emerged in the last six or seven months.»
European authorities have also begun holding crews accountable, particularly when captains are «facilitating dangerous deceptive shipping practices, such as spoofing and going dark,» she explained.
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«The EU recently sanctioned the captain of a tanker who refused orders from the Estonian navy (Jaguar) to be stopped for inspection last May, and the French charged a captain over his refusal to comply with orders and failure to justify a flag’s nationality after authorities intercepted a dark fleet tanker in the Atlantic last October,» Wiese Bockmann added.
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, a second vessel, the M. Sophia, was also boarded in international waters near the Caribbean while en route to Venezuela.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
nato,russia,venezuelan political crisis,trade,sanctions,vladimir putin
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Russia reportedly slams Trump’s Golden Dome as ‘provocative’ as trillion-dollar shield takes shape
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Russia criticized the U.S.’ proposed Golden Dome missile defense system Monday, warning it could destabilize global nuclear deterrence, according to reports.
According to TASS, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev told Kommersant newspaper that the ambitious project is extremely «provocative.»
«Problems in the strategic sphere resulting from destabilizing U.S. actions only continue to grow. It is enough to recall the highly provocative anti-missile project ‘Golden Dome for America,’» he said, TASS reported.
«It fundamentally contradicts the assertion of the inseparable interrelationship between offensive and defensive strategic arms, which, by the way, was enshrined in the preamble of New START,» Medvedev added, citing the treaty that protects U.S. national security by placing limits on Russia’s deployed intercontinental nuclear weapons.
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Deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev speaks during an interview with Russian media at a residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 23, 2023. (Sputnik/Yekaterina Shtukina/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
A defense expert says Russia’s reaction underscores the Golden Dome’s power as a geopolitical signal to the world.
«Even before it has been built, the dome is military focused and politically focused and an incredible bargaining chip with U.S. adversaries,» defense expert Cameron Chell told Fox News Digital.
«In this case, it is Russia and China in particular, in terms of how the U.S. postures for negotiating peace terms, treaty terms and whether the U.S. will be negating their already existing arsenal,» the Draganfly CEO claimed.
The Golden Dome is a long-term missile defense concept aimed at protecting North America from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missile threats.
Chell spoke after the Pentagon released its National Defense Strategy on Jan. 23, outlining a renewed focus on homeland defense, expanded missile defense, counter-drone systems, cyber capabilities and long-range strike forces.
The planned Golden Dome missile defense shield is designed to defeat «large missile barrages and other advanced aerial attacks,» the strategy said, while also hardening military and key civilian infrastructure against cyber strikes as Russia and China continue expanding their hypersonic weapons programs.
‘GOLDEN DOME’ MISSILE SHIELD TO BE TESTED BY TRUMP IN KEY AMERICAN TERRITORY
President Donald Trump announced his proposal for a «Golden Dome» missile defense system in the United States on May 20, 2025. (Leah Millis/Reuters/File Photo; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, China has also pushed back against the Golden Dome missile defense initiative, accusing Washington of undermining global strategic stability and risking the weaponization of outer space.
«There’s big value in the talk and the build-out of Golden Dome, even long before it gets built, not to mention the research and technology development that comes out of it,» Chell said.
«The posturing and the economic benefits of building something like this are also factored into why the dome is so important.»
The project’s sheer scale is expected to drive its strategic impact but could also come with an enormous price tag.
«The dome is going to take trillions to build and is the largest military project, probably the largest engineering and technology project ever attempted, so there are going to be challenges getting it done,» Chell explained.
«The U.S. has ten years of planning, including where they are going to have communication links, radar systems, and early warning systems.» That planning, Chell noted, is shifting focus north.
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The Golden Dome will need space-based radar capabilities. (Lockheed Martin )
«In order to protect the U.S., you want to take things down before they get over the top of the country,» Chell said.
«Places like Canada, or even further north, become the dropping ground. You want to get these threats as soon as possible.»
Canada and Greenland are viewed by U.S. defense planners as critical for radar coverage, space tracking and early-warning infrastructure.
«The idea is something being shot down from space, but to do that you need very detailed landscape data of the entire North and you need access to the North,» Chell said.
President Trump has long argued the U.S. must control Greenland for national security reasons, citing its strategic Arctic location and natural resources.
«There needs to be infrastructure and oversight in the far north, in Canada, in Greenland, and places like that,» Chell said. «All that planning has to be done well ahead of time, before we have anything operational.»
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Chell also pointed to the potential role of drones in supporting the Golden Dome’s broader mission.
«Drones could be part of informing the Golden Dome as reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence tools,» he said, adding that the «entire military complex is integrated.»
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of War for comment.
spending,homeland security,defense,pentagon,russia,donald trump,national security,nato,drones,china
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El gobierno español busca regularizar a medio millón de inmigrantes sin papeles: qué pasa con los argentinos
El Consejo de Ministros español se apresta a aprobar este martes el inicio de la tramitación de un real decreto para regularizar a alrededor de medio millón de inmigrantes que llegaron antes del 31 de diciembre pasado y que demuestren al menos cinco meses de residencia en el país.
La medida fue pactada entre el oficialista Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) del jefe de gobierno Pedro Sánchez y el partido izquierdista Podemos.
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El Ejecutivo comunicó esa iniciativa después de que la secretaria política y eurodiputada de Podemos, Irene Montero, anunció el acuerdo con el PSOE con el objetivo de regularizar a alrededor de medio millón de personas.
Según datos oficiales, unos 415.000 argentinos residen en España en forma legal. El 44% de ellos tiene doble nacionalidad. Pero se desconoce cuántos viven en ese país sin documentos, aunque son una minoría con relación a otras nacionalidades latinoamericanas.
Qué implica el proyecto de regularización de inmigrantes
Al tramitarse como un real decreto, el gobierno español no requiere de su convalidación parlamentaria y puede esquivar así la falta de apoyos que los socios del ejecutivo encontraron en materia migratoria.
Según Montero, la medida implica “que tendrán papeles todas las personas que estuvieran en España antes del 31 de diciembre del año 2025 y que puedan demostrar al menos cinco meses de residencia”.
Podrán hacerlo con el empadronamiento municipal, pero también con otros medios como un informe médico, un contrato de suministro eléctrico o un certificado de envío de dinero, algo muy demandado por las entidades sociales debido a las dificultades que muchas veces enfrentan las personas en situación de irregularidad para acceder al padrón.
Pedro Sánchez busca regularización a medio millón de inmigrantes sin papeles (Foto: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq)
La admisión a trámite de la solicitud ya dará una autorización de residencia y trabajo por un año y suspenderá automáticamente los procedimientos de retorno o las órdenes de expulsión por motivos administrativos o por trabajar sin permiso que pesaran sobre la persona.
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Al término de ese año podrá solicitarse una autorización ordinaria conforme al reglamento de extranjería.
Fuentes del Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones precisaron que este real decreto tiene como objetivo garantizar derechos y dar seguridad jurídica a una realidad social existente.
Gobiernos liderados tanto por el PSOE como por el conservador Partido Popular (PP) aprobaron desde los años 80 hasta ocho procesos extraordinarios de regularización de inmigrantes con los que intentaron reducir el creciente número de inmigrantes extranjeros sin derechos y luchar también contra la economía informal.
Más de 840.000 inmigrantes viven en España en situación irregular
El centro de análisis Funcas (Fundación de las Cajas de Ahorros) informó este lunes que la cifra de migrantes que viven en España en situación administrativa irregular sigue creciendo y ya se sitúa en 840.000 personas.
Por origen, destacan las nacionalidades del continente americano (760.000), que representan el 91 % del total de la inmigración irregular, y en especial la colombiana (cerca de 290.000), la peruana (casi 110.000) y la hondureña (90.000).
Las nacionalidades africanas (50.000), asiáticas (15.000) y europeas (14.000) se encuentran a bastante distancia.
Los datos son anteriores a la última reforma del reglamento de extranjería español, que entró en vigor en mayo de 2025 e introduce cambios para flexibilizar el acceso a la regularización por arraigo. Por eso se estima que la cifra es menor y se situaría en medio millón de personas.
Fuertes cuestionamientos de la oposición
El líder del PP, el conservador Alberto Núñez Feijóo, dijo que la política migratoria del jefe del Ejecutivo español “es tan disparatada como la ferroviaria”, tras los accidentes de tren de la última semana.
En un mensaje en la red social X, Núñez Feijóo escribió: “Hasta 46 muertos. Cientos de heridos. Ninguna dimisión. Y la primera respuesta de Sánchez es una regularización masiva para desviar la atención, aumentar el efecto llamada y desbordar nuestros servicios públicos”.
Por su parte, el líder del partido ultraderechista Vox, Santiago Abascal, tildó de “tirano” a Sánchez por impulsar esta regularización que, a su juicio, promoverá “el efecto llamada para acelerar la invasión”. “¡500.000 ilegales!”, escribió Abascal en un mensaje en X, en el que afirmó que Sánchez “odia al pueblo español” y “quiere sustituirlo”.
(Con información de EFE)
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