On February 4, 2026, Estonian security forces detained the container ship Baltic Spirit, which was traveling from Ecuador to Saint Petersburg, after it entered Estonian territorial waters for refueling and resupply. The vessel had 23 crew members, all Russian citizens, who offered no resistance. Authorities suspect the ship may have been involved in smuggling operations. The operation involved Estonia’s K-Commando special police unit, navy, and aviation forces boarding the ship from a helicopter for inspection. Preliminary data suggests the vessel is not part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ designated under EU sanctions. The incident marks Estonia’s first large-scale operation involving multiple national security agencies simultaneously. This detention is part of a broader pattern of increased attacks and detentions on vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet across multiple theaters, including recent Ukrainian naval drone attacks and Western allied interdictions. Earlier, 14 European states agreed to tighten controls on navigation in the Baltic Sea to restrict Russia’s shadow fleet activities.
Category: Military & Paramilitary Operations
Subcategory: Conventional Military Pressure
Incident Type: Naval intimidation / close approaches
Country: Estonia
Source report: theukrainianreview.info/estonia-d…
