The union is powerless to the Russians in Libya. The weapon from Moscow flows and then kills

Despite the embargo, Russia provides weapons to the eastern part of the divided Libya. Cited by the European Union, in order to block these supplies, EUNAVFOR forces are aware of this, but they cannot intervene – according to the investigation of the Italian weekly “L'Espresso” and the international consortium of investigative journalism (ICIJ).

Since 2011, he has been binding an embargo on the supply of weapons to divided Libya, imposed by the UN Security Council. In 2020, the EU, as part of EUNAVFOR, established a sea mission called Operation Irini, whose task is to control what affects the Libyan ports and prevent breaking of imposed sanctions.

One of the ships that became the object of interest in law enforcement agencies was the Barbaros ship flowing from Russia to Libya under the flag of Cameroon.

According to anonymous sources of PAP and the international consortium of investigative journalism (ICIJ), this and other units that often excluded their automatic identification system (AIS) in the Mediterranean. From participating in these operations, he firmly cut himself off in correspondence with PAP, who announced that “he never conducts investigations himself, and the organization did not accuse any accusations in relation to Russia or weapons.”

However, according to Icij, when Barbaros sailed through the Bosphorus in April 2024, analyzing maritime activity in this strait, the Turkish observer Yoruk Isik posted photos of the ship on platform X, describing it as a “interest ship” transporting trucks, which are often used in military missions and which are produced by the sanctions of the Russian company. This post had special attention to the services controlling the breaking of the embargo. It turned out that the ship has repeatedly manipulated its AIS.

The report that Icij saw was estimated that the ship “could transport a firearm intended for Libya” and the authorities were recommended to strict monitoring of it. And this control ended, and the military transport was discharged in Libya.

Many documents that ICIJ reached applies to the Libyan Coast patrol program entrusted to the EU maritime forces. Each week, detailed reports are created documenting the arrival of Russian ships, movements of war convoys, the participation of Russian instructors and support of Moscow for the forces of General Chalifa Haftar, controlling the eastern part of the country.

“Continuous monitoring, but so far useless. In general, the documents emphasize the inability and a significant defeat of European missions,” commented the Italian weekly after reading the documents.

Manipulating the AIS system was devoted to a separate document “Reports about AIS anomalies”. It shows that in 2024, when Syria was still under the rule of the dictator Bashar Al-Assad, in December last year overthrown and forced to escape to Moscow, at least ten Russian ships turned off or manipulated this system.

Concerning with the progress of Russia in Libya and all of sub -Saharan Africa is also confirmed by reports transferred to military commands preparing for meetings with representatives of European rule. These reports warn that some of Libya, controlled by Haftar, is a bridgehead to conquer Central Africa.

According to military documents quoted by “L'Espresso”, “The presence of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean is a fact. We regularly see how their units moor in Libya.”

Tadeusz Brzozowski (PAP)

Tebe/ AP/