Ukraine has the right idea on how to deal with the Russian ones: Make them permanently inoperable.
this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2025
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Except what happens if one of those tankers had a Russian flag planted on it, but was headed to Iran?
Does that give Iran and Russia their "excuse" to claim they've been left with no other option than to align against the west in an attack because they're being "bullied?"
They can bellyache all they want as the nation they invaded fights back. The solution is to stop invading them.
Not disagreeing, but how do you know you're not playing into their hands?
Russian citizens would seem to prefer an end to the war, but the media is controlled by Putin. Often these ultra nationalistic authoritarians are completely reliant on the public buying some kind of victimhood narrative to justify their actions.
It allows them to create the illusion (at least within Russia) that an escalation in war and alliance with Iran is the only rational solution for their own survival.
If Ukraine fighting back against Russia's invasion is enough to convince Russians to continue the war, then it was always going to continue until one country is defeated. Handicapping Ukraine only helps Russia.
Hell, if it isn't obvious that after four years of war Russia is not going to stop, and instead must be stopped, I don't know what to tell you.
I'm not saying Russia doesn't need to be stopped. That's the problem with buying into the reality that an authoritarian offers you. The goal of Putin's psychological manipulation is to make you feel pressured into black and white thinking. In this case, the goal is to make you believe you only have 2 rational choices, even though he's the one who has laid them both out for you.
Putin famously says the "cornered rat will always jump." That may be true about a rat (and makes a lof of sense for Putin), but why allow him to make you think of yourself as the cornered rat?
The EU is not a cornered rat. Ukraine is not a cornered rat. They are sovereign nations made up of millions of autonomous humans, who are being targeted by a very small group of rats trying to pressure them into believing that their only choices are to freeze (do nothing) or to jump (attack).
The reality is, the Trump administration has created the current situation in Venezuela. Oddly, everything Trump has done up to this point, has resulted in only one company (Chevron) being allowed to continue business as normal. Why is that?
Since Chevron is the only company that can legally do business while the U.S. has Venezuela under siege, is Chevron given access to the tankers that would have been going to Russia or Iran before they were intercepted?
Chevron signed a deal with Hungary last week to help diversify their energy imports, with the ultimate goal of helping them be less reliant on Russia. Specifically it would be the first time resources exported from the U.S. would be replacing any of the resources provided by Russia.
Suddenly on Thursday the U.S. company that was supposed to be building the plant that would provide the resources to Chevron, announced they would no longer be moving forward with the export plant they were building in Louisiana.
The next day, Hungary seemed to be getting cold feet regarding their own independence from Russia. Presumably, Chevron is still on the hook to provide the energy resources to Hungary or they have no choice to just default back to dependence on Russia.
Before anyone jumps into WWIII like an obedient cornered rat, why not stop and at least ask some questions first.
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Why is nobody demanding the U.S. and Chevron explain if the contract with Hungary will be cancelled, or if they plan to deliver the resources by taking them from somewhere other than the U.S. (like Venezuela or maybe Greenland?)
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How do we really know that once the Trump administration allows Chevron to take control of the seized oil tanker, they're not just doing some back door dealings with Russia? If Chevron uses these seized resources it to fulfill their deal with Hungary, is there any chance Russia still receives a cut of the deal, and just continues doing business as usual, but with Chevron as the new middle man?
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Most important question, is there any chance Trump could be hoping to take over Greenland, and either wittingly or unwittingly, end up acting as a placeholder or middleman for Russia?
Basically, the T.L.D.R. is that Trump and Chevron need to answer some very basic questions before I believe entering into WWIII is in the interest if anybody who isn't an oligarch.
DO IT! Just fucking do it! Stop drawing lines in the sand and stepping back when Russia crosses them. They are daring the EU to respond because they think they are weak and won't do jack shit. And you know what? So far, they are right.
You don't think there might be a smarter way to approach this than just letting them provoke you into the action they're hoping you'll take?
I'm not saying do nothing, or don't intercept them, but how you actually do it, and who you rely on, is what could make the difference in Putin's surrender vs providing Putin with the story he desperately needs the Russian people (not to mention Iran) to believe?
The increasingly aggressive efforts to police the shadow fleet and evidence that Russia is willing to use military assets to protect tankers, has led experts to warn of the risk of confrontation.
This seems easy to de-risk. Ukriane could develop a simply Zodiac boat with an Exocet anti-ship missile launcher on it. Whenever the USA finds a Russian shadow fleet ship with its vast global surveillance assets, the Ukrainians get a txt message of the ships location and a free ride right outside of range of the Russian ship. The Zodiac, crewed exclusively by Ukrainians, take the boat into range, fire the missile, and sink the Russian vessel.
Russia invaded Ukraine and has killed thousands of its citizens and is occupying it land since 2014. Any actions of Ukraine against any Russian assets anywhere in the world are fair game for retaliation.
It certainly has not gone unnoticed in Moscow that the only way for Ukrainian drones to hit targets off the coast of Libya is to fly over NATO territory. If NATO countries let Ukrainians drones fly overhead unhindered, then Ukraine can take the shadow fleet down one vessel at a time, without NATO or Europe having committed any act of war.
The economic noose is tightening. The biggest risk to this operation is that the price of oil shoots up again because of the "situation" in Venezuela.