British Royal Marine Commandos conducted a high-stakes midnight raid in the English Channel on Sunday, boarding and seizing a sanctioned Russian "shadow fleet" oil tanker.
The elite UK forces conducted a fast-roping raid onto the massive crude carrier in the dead of night and into the morning daylight hours. While there's nothing new in terms of an 'illicit' Russian tanker seizure in European waters, it is rare or even unprecedented that such an action occurred in the English Channel, so close to Britain's shores.
According to the UK Ministry of Defense, it was a six-hour operation and a massive display of force involving a flotilla of navy vessels - including the frigate HMS Sutherland - and a fleet of aircraft, most notably heavy-lift Chinook helicopters.
The target has since been identified as the Smyros - a vessel allegedly flying under the radar in an effort to bypass Western embargoes.
"In the first U.K.-led operation of its kind, the vessel SMYRTOS was boarded by Royal Marine Commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency, despite Russia's best efforts to evade sanctions and continue fueling its barbaric war with Ukraine."
France has been involved in several of these interdictions and boardings, but not yet the UK, until now. The captured vessel now being escorted to an anchorage off the south coast of England, where it will remain under heavy guard and surveillance.
The UK defense ministry in follow-up sated that "Russia relies on its shadow fleet to fund their conflict in Ukraine and our interdiction delivers a blow to Putin's illegal war." The statement added that this was done in "close coordination" with French authorities.
Russian "shadow fleet" methods have relied on constantly switching registries and disabling AIS transponders to avoid tracking.
The last several seized tankers - done by France which is up to four captures at this point - were flying flags of African nations, and these interdictions have stretched back through last year.
Watch: Royal Marine Commandos board the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet tanker SMYRTOS in the Channel, in the first UK-led operation of its kind, backed by HMS Sutherland, HMS Ledbury and an RAF P-8. The vessel is now held off the south coast as investigations continue. pic.twitter.com/omTnGlh3gk
In some instances, Russia has been sending military escorts - which of course has seen French and European militaries hold off executing any action. But unprotected ones are clearly exposed, and European militaries can taken action on these at will.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored exclusive high-priced tickets to multiple World Cup matches for free, his reps confirmed Saturday, while insisting he’s not snubbing city ethics rules.
“Given the unique nature of the World Cup and the once-in-a-generation opportunity for New York City to serve as a host city, the mayor will attend select matches at [MetLife Stadium] in his official capacity to perform official functions as the chief executive of the host city,” said Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec, without being specific.
Mamdani was seated next to Hochul for the Morocco game.ESPN/X
The soccer-loving, silver-spoon socialist has a “contractual obligation with the New York/New Jersey 2026 World Cup Host Committee” to attend the matches, including Saturday’s pitting Brazil versus Morocco, where he was accompanied by his wife, Rama Duwaji, claimed Pekec
The First Lady paid for her own ticket to the contest — where the cheapest tickets on secondary market sites were running more than $1,600 as of game day, said Pekec, insisting “there is no gift here.”
Pekec failed to elaborate on how many matches Mamdani plans to attend. There are eight FIFA World Cup 2026 games scheduled for MetLife Stadium.
Gov. Kathy Hochul was spotted sitting next to the mayor during Saturday’s match.
“It would be unprecedented for host city leadership, particularly a mayor with such international recognition, to not participate in World Cup matches,” Pekec crowed about her boss.
An influx of out-of-state agitators — some hailing from elite backgrounds — were arrested in Newark during the chaotic standoff with law enforcement outside the Delaney Hall migrant detention center, The Post has learned.
Out of the at least 12 anti-ICE rioters arrested last weekend for assaulting federal agents or smashing cars, four came from as far as Washington State, Colorado, Arizona and Illinois to wreak havoc on the Garden State, according to information from the Newark Police Department and arrest sheets reviewed by The Post.
Zion Napier, 28, here on the windshield with his face covered, was among those who traveled the furthest, from Seattle.Getty Images
Another was from Connecticut and five from New York — most of them recent transplants to the city.
Only three were from New Jersey, where the violent clashes have raged for three weeks since 300 detainees went on a hunger strike over what they claimed were inhumane conditions inside.
At least two have ties to one of the dark money groups clamoring to “shut down Delaney Hall” and “abolish ICE” since the unrest began, according to information from social media.
“There’s an organized effort to create anarchy. It is insane to me,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) told The Post. “This is America. We have the rule of law and that has to be stopped.”
Julianna Wurst, 19, and Lucas Jimenez, 18, were among the few arrested who were actually from New Jersey.Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Some of the arrested include:
Zion Napier, a 28-year-old, long-haired radical activist seen in police video jumping on cars and smashing windows. The Seattle resident, who worked at the Emerald City’s oldest marine construction firm, Seaborn Companies, was charged with three counts of criminal mischief.
Mariano Anthony Perez, 31, trekked from Phoenix and was nabbed for punching a Homeland Security Investigations special agent in the face, after he tried to remove Perez from blocking the entrance to the detention facility.
Thomas Clemens, 30, from Chicago, completed a doctorate degree at the University of Colorado in 2019 and until December, and worked as a traveling physical therapist in rural Washington, New Mexico and Hawaii, records show. While he worked alongside patients, he was touting causes online that included Black Lives Matter in COVID-era Facebook posts, where he identified himself as a vaccinated “frontline worker” and urged others to get the jab. Clemens, who was charged with aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and hindering apprehension, declined to comment.
Connecticut-native Rayaan Baywa, 22, is an actor with the Stonehill Theatre Company and once played the leader of a kidnapping gang in “Murder on the Orient Express.” His experiences with “bigotry have helped me be extra attentive to my peers of color,” he claimed in his online resume. Baywa declined to comment.
Self-described trans photographer Persephone Ambriz-Squires, 27, who lists Bergdorf-Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue as interests on social media, is from Albuquerque, growing up in a $1.6 million pad, according to public records. The now Brooklyn resident was arrested for rioting and failure to disperse.
Sarah Sullivan, 25, from upstate High Falls, whose literary agency owner mother and research executive father had their wedding announcement in the New York Times in 1996. Sullivan is the great grand-daughter of Lawrence Upjohn, chairman and part of family behind pharma giant The Upjohn Company, which brought to market blockbuster drugs like Xanax and Motrin. She was charged with rioting and failure to disperse.
Julianna Wurst from Old Bridge, New Jersey, features the grim reaper on her Facebook page. The 19-year-old includes an anti-west, Marxist rally cry on her bio: “The empire must fall.”
Thomas Clemens, who worked as a physical therapist in Chicago until December, was among those arrested.thomas.clemens/Facebook
Far-left organizations have supplied protestors with military goggles, helmets, knee and shin pads to face off with federal officials — as they broadcast the chaos to millions of followers on social media.
At least two have connections to the radical nonprofit Sunrise Movement, among the organizers of the Delaney Hall mayhem.
Drew Larsen, 29, lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, but hails from the small historic town of Frederick, Maryland, an hour outside DC, where he was a photographer for the local branch of the Sunrise Movement, according to an Instagram post from 2020.
Persephone Ambriz-Squires moved from Albuquerque in 2016 to go to $75,000 a year NYU to study drama.cat.heinen/Instagram
Solomon Dunston, 28, who was arrested for rioting and failure to disperse and is one of the few who actually grew up in New Jersey, touted the Sunrise Movement on his Facebook page, urging others to join the group.
The nonprofit is funded by megadonors that include far-left billionaire George Soros and boasts $2.6 million in revenue and $4.9 million in assets, according to its 2024 tax filings.
“For 19 days…Sunrise organizers have been on the ground at Delaney Hall in New Jersey” it bragged on its Instagram, along with daily pictures and videos of the standoff.
Julianna Wurst from Old Bridge, New Jersey, 19-year-old includes an anti-west, Marxist rally cry on her bio: “The empire must fall.”Getty Images
The organization, founded in 2017 as a climate activist group, has since pivoted to anti-ICE mayhem, including chaotic protests in Minnesota.
Critics said the Delaney protests are far from grassroots.
“They come in with overwhelming resources, any objective person who just looks at it from a 30,000 feet point of view would say that’s not organic,” said former prosecutor Chuck Flint.
“It’s a web of organizations, transactions and then you’ve got these people who recruit these individuals that I would call mules — and they throw them out in front and use them like a mule, the way that a cartel would.”
None of the other arrested protestors answered calls or returned The Post’s messages. The Sunrise Movement also didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
Knicks mania turned into complete insanityin Times Square when fans smashed and tore apart several school buses in the packed party hub — including one that was left completely engulfed in fire.
One bus was completely torched after the maniacs lit pieces of clothing on fire and tossed it inside — even as their fellow havoc-makers danced on the roof.
Wild footage shows the maniacs ripping the buses to shreds as they stood parked near the 42nd Street subway station.
Fans attempted to bring the same destruction down on another bus parked in the area, but the distraught owner pleaded with the maniacs to leave the truck alone, according to freedomnews.
“This is f–king up my check. This is coming out of my check!” the driver said before using his body to protect the bus from the maniacs.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was arrested in the mayhem.
