Tanker Yachter Steeler Spy
US Sanctions UAE and Turkey Corps for Dirty Putin Oil After RussiLeaks Report
Just two days after we published an exposé on RussiLeaks reporting that UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum had struck an energy deal with Putin in which he agreed to continue to provide safe haven for Putin’s super yacht Titan in return for “Russian energy,†the US slapped sanctions on UAE company Lumber Marine SA for violating the $60/barrel sanctions cap on Russian oil. Coincidence? Not. The US also slapped Turkish company Ice Pearl Navigation with sanctions for the same reason.
What is it with these two guys Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan and the UAE Sheikh, both of whose air forces fly American F-16 Fighting Falcon jets? Turkey is a NATO member even and yet both leaders continue to play Putin-footsies.
UAE-based Lumber Marine SA and Turkish firm Ice Pearl Navigation are the first to be sanctioned for buying Russian oil at above the $60 price cap implemented under the US/EU sanctions regime.
(See The Hill: 2 shipping companies face first sanctions over Russian oil shipments)
RussiLeaks Nailed It, a Year Ago
Turkey…and the UAE, a Russian oil tanker named Aleksey Kosygin, Putin, Alexander Abramov, and their Titan superyacht. Now where have I heard those seven things in the same story before. Oh yeah, that was my story, LAST October.
Putin’s Floating Locus of Evil
I first connected the dots between Putin, his and Alexander Abramov’s Titan super yacht, Turkey, Russian oil tanker Alexsey Kosygin, and the UAE a year ago in a RussiLeaks expose’ I published October 1,2022 entitled: “A Floating Locus of Evilâ€. At the time I wasn’t aware the UAE was still buying dirty Russian oil after Putin attacked Ukraine.
We reported on how the Titan had fled its safe harbor in Turkey and sailed through the Suez where it hooked up in the Red Sea with the Russian oil tanker Aleksey Kosygin. Putin would have the oil tanker reflagged from Russia to Liberia and renamed it the SCF Vankor sometime after we exposed this nexus in space (the Red Sea) and time (October 1, 2022) and these two Putin strategic naval assets (the Titan the Aleksey Kosygin) both still sailing within the coastal waters of the UAE (Port Said harbor) and Turkey’s or Russia’s territorial waters in the Black Sea.
A Proportional Ukrainian Response
Now, a year later, since Putin has resumed his aerial bombardment on Ukraine grain storage facilities, oil facilities, and transport ships in the Odesa region, both of these Putin strategic naval assets sailing under the cover of commercial shipping and “privately-owned pleasure yacht” are fair game for Ukraine and would be a proportional response. Ukraine has already taken out one Russian tanker in the Black Sea with a naval drone, without Elon Musk’ StarLink help.
Onward to Dubai – One Year at the Port Said Dock
The Titan sailed on to Dubai where it would remain moored at the pier for a full year as the Russian war against Ukraine has raged.
The day after we received intelligence that Putin had ordered the Titan to deploy, the Titan sailed out of Dubai harbor and moored several miles offshore as shown above. We published an article detailing this Titan deployment and continued surveilling. The next day, the Titan would turn tail and slink back into Dubai harbor after Putin committed to providing the Sheikh Russian energy in return for a continuation of safe harbor. Once inside Dubai harbor, a swarm of small tender vessels began servicing the Titan, with what we don’t know. It remains there.
BIDEN LOWERS THE BOOM
Now, just two days after we published the update on the Titan’s return to Dubai, the Biden Administration has lowered the boom on the Sheikh’s Lumber Marine SA business as well as Erdogan’s Ice Pearl Navigation after they purchased Putin’s oil at a price well over the $60/barrel cap in violation of US/EU sanctions.
The Moral Red Line
One wonders whether there is any moral redline for the Sheikh and President Erdogan that, were Putin to cross it (like say, kidnapping and deporting Ukrainian kids, or bombarding schools and hospitals, massacring civilians), they would stop filling Putin’s coffers and seize the Titan or perhaps allow one of their democratic allies to seize it. Oh, wait. Putin’s already crossed those redlines Your Highness, so what are you waiting for? More American/EU sanctions against more of your Russia-dealing entities?
So, what are all the good people of the United Arab Emirates with cell phone cameras and boats of their own waiting for? Do we have to draw you a map?
Wait, I just did.
Who Still Buys Putin’s Oil?
And not to pick on just the UAE, the same could be said for India and China. Now, China, ok. But India? The India that’s supposedly a democratic ally? Check out this Indian/Chinese Russian seaborne oil purchase chart. India is importing more seaborne delivered Russian oil than China as shown below.
A Proportional Response
As we say at RussiLeaks: “Evil Dies in Brightness.â€
Since Putin has returned to bombarding Ukraine’s global grain supply chain in an effort to deny (blackmail) a hungry world their grain, which is Ukraine’s single largest source of revenue, Ukraine has more than enough moral authority and imperative to respond in kind against Putin’s global afloat fuel supply chain: Whether it’s sailing in the Black Sea, or in international or NATO or allied territorial waters like near Norway and Lithuania on (and under) the Baltic Sea. Whether oil, gas, or other fuels.
Then there’s the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, The North Sea, the Artic Sea.
Putin and Iran-Hamas’ Capture of the House of Representatives
It is now an existential matter of life and death for our two democratic allies Israel and Ukraine. They are now both now under sustained brutal bombardment: Israel by the Iran supported Hamas and Hezbollah with Iran’s backing; and Ukraine by Russia. And Russia backs Iran who backs Hezbollah and Hamas.
Putin’s Puppets Wreak Havoc in Congress
This is a message to all of those both overseas and here in America who continue to enable and extend Putin’s Ukraine war by attempting to starve Ukraine of US military aid. They were doing it in Congress under the cover of the speech and debate clause.
But now, in the last week Putin’s Congressional puppets have succeeded in literally denying the House of Representatives their ability to function as a governing body, IN ANY WAY. In doing so, they have denied the House the ability to exercise their power of the purse that’s needed to continue to provide new weapons to Ukraine AND Israel that are not already appropriated or pre-authorized.
And just to name names, the culprits in Congress are my opponent Anna Luna, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan, and all the others who continue to bend the knee at the altar of the Putin-Trump.
You have a choice to make my soon-to-be constituents here in Florida’s 13th Congressional District in Pinellas County. So do you voters in FL’s 1st District where Gaetz dis-serves you. And in SC’s 14th district where Taylor-Greene dis-serves you. And in Colorado’s 3rd District where Boebert dis-serves you.
I am running for Congress to serve you and America and at “top-of-mission” is that I put “Kids First, Above All Else.”
They are in Congress to dis-serve you, our country, our democratic allies, and to line their own pockets.
They are acting to serve the interests of Putin under the guise of supporting Trump, above all else.
John Liccione is a candidate for US Congress in Florida’s 13th Congressional District where he is the only declared Democratic Candidate running against Anna Luna in 2024. VoteLiccione.org.
He is also Founder and CEO of RussiLeaks, an online media company solely focused on exposing Putin’s secrets and those of his agents on American soil. He is also the Founder and CEO of Leaks Media, a start-up global media company just getting started whose mission is “Exposing the Secrets of the Enemies of Democracy.â€