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Topic: Crime, and Naval Warfare Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Eurasia, and Europe Tags: Ghost Fleet, Hybrid Warfare, Mercenaries, NATO, Russia, and Wagner Group Wagner Group Mercenaries Are Now Guarding Russia’s Shadow Tanker Fleet March 17, 2026 By: Peter Suciu
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Two-man mercenary teams are now present on many Russian “shadow fleet” vessels, discouraging boarding attempts from unfriendly nations.
Russia’s infamous Wagner Group mercenary group lives on. It may no longer be engaged in combat operations in Ukraine, but it is now providing security on vessels of Russia’s “shadow fleet.”
The Russian paramilitary group was absorbed and restructured into a Russian state group following a high-profile rebellion by founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in June 2023. The group was rebranded as the “Africa Corps,” supporting Moscow’s interests in several African nations and providing security to Russian commercial interests there. The former Wagner Group now operates on a much tighter leash than it did under Prigozhin, who died in a not-so-mysterious plane crash in 2023 after the failure of the mutiny.
However, in addition to serving in Central Africa, some former Wagner Group personnel are now providing security aboard Russia’s so-called “Shadow Fleet,” according to a new investigation from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and its partner news organizations.
How Russia Hides Its Shipping Fleet
Despite the sanctions imposed on Russia following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, Moscow continues to operate a covert network of upwards of 1,500 aging vessels to sell Russian oil and other goods to countries such as China and India, allowing it to fund its war efforts.
Many of the vessels are sold to shell companies to obscure their jurisdictions. The ships often operate without location transponders, change their flags to confuse authorities, and falsify their registration. The vessels also conduct illicit ship-to-ship transfers.
Moscow may have spent as much as $10 billion to build the fleet, which may now carry as much as 11 percent of its global seaborne oil, according to a report from the Brookings Institution.
Russian “Shadow” Tankers Now Have Not-So-Shadowy Guards
Since last year, the Russian Navy has provided military escorts to the tankers, but Russian nationals also serve on the ships as “supernumeraries,” those not part of the standard operating crew.
OCCRP claimed that more than a dozen individuals serving on the ships in the shadow fleet were linked to the Wagner Group, elite Russian military units, or the GRU military intelligence service. These men lack maritime credentials.
“These extra crewmen or ‘technicians,’ as they are sometimes referred to, started appearing on vessels after July 2025, according to the crew lists obtained by reporters,” OCCRP reported.
Deployed on the ships in two-man “vessel protection teams,” they were present mostly in shadow fleet ships in the Baltic Sea, to deter authorities “from boarding, inspecting, or potentially seizing the ships that form an economic lifeline for Moscow.”
Despite the Baltic Sea becoming a de facto “NATO lake” since Sweden joined the international military alliance, the route remains crucial to Moscow for exporting its oil. Upwards of 40 percent of Russia’s oil travels on ships through the Baltic Sea, and the Wagner Group or other mercenaries are there to ensure the flow isn’t halted.
“The goal of this activity is to protect the Russian Federation’s revenue base from potential threats, be it [Ukraine-organized] sabotage” or other interference from the West, the head of Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center, Colonel Ants Kiviselg, told Delfi, which coordinated on the report with OCCRP.
“Placing ship protecting crews on these ships shows that the goods moved by the shadow fleet and the revenue derived from them are important to Russia,” Kiviselg added.
In addition to actual security teams, some Shadow Fleet vessels have dressed mannequins in uniforms to resemble armed personnel, giving the impression of heavier security, The Defense Post reported.
One source familiar with the matter told OCCRP that the presence of security teams (or at least the appearance of armed men on the ship) is meant to “raise the stakes” to deter inspections.
“Two potentially armed individuals certainly changes [our] risk calculus when we must decide whether to stop or seize the tanker,” the source said. “Russia believes this makes NATO member states along the Baltic Sea more cautious.”
The Shadow Fleet Is an Arm of Russia’s Hybrid Warfare Network
Beyond delivering oil, Russia may be using the Shadow Fleet to stage asymmetric warfare operations against NATO members.
“It’s definitely not just about protecting Russia’s oil,” said Sean Wiswesser, a former CIA senior operations officer with a specialization in the Russian intelligence services. “Nowhere else in the world have there been as many cable cuts, and in a short time, as there have been in the past two years in the Baltic Sea.”
The presence of armed men on board Russian tankers may deter small coastal patrol boats, but NATO will continue to respond to the Shadow Fleet with increased maritime patrols and targeted inspections. The question is how the Kremlin will respond, and whether that could include larger teams of mercenaries on the ships.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
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Источник: nationalinterest.org