Russian ship grounded near Gibraltar with military cargo
The sanctioned Russian ship Northern Lights, transporting military equipment from Russian bases in Syria, ran aground near Gibraltar, reported the pro-Ukrainian channel "Crimean Wind" on Wednesday.
![The Russian ship, subjected to sanctions, ran aground near Gibraltar [illustrative photo].](https://v.wpimg.pl/ZWIzOWNidTYoGDlkYRJ4I2tAbT4nS3Z1PFh1dWFfaG4xSXpjYQ8zOywIKichRz0lPAouID5HKjtmGz8-YR9reC0TPCciCCN4LBctMipGa2J_Ti01fVB3MnBIKnp6UWhiZBt_NihEaGZ5Tyo1fVA5NXhObSo)
The ship is removing military equipment from bases abandoned by Russia in Syria. On its way to Saint Petersburg, Russia, it is accompanied by the large landing ship "Alexander Shabalin", which likely also has military equipment confiscated from the Syrian bases on board.
The ship is owned by the sanctioned Russian shipping company OJSC "Northern Shipping Company", which is connected to the Russian Ministry of Defence and provides services.
The Northern Lights itself was also sanctioned by the United States in May 2022 precisely due to transporting military equipment for the Russian armed forces. This is not the first problem faced by the Russian fleet transporting equipment on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
Russia lost three cargo ships
In December last year alone, Russia lost at least three cargo ships. First, in the Kerch Strait, two tankers, Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, sank. At the end of December, the container ship Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean Sea, for which the Russians accused the Ukrainian military intelligence of causing damage.
The ship was actively used for transporting military cargo from Syria. In early February 2025, the Russian spy ship Kildin burned off the coast of Syria for several hours, and a few days later, at the entrance to the port of Novorossiysk, the Russian research vessel Ashamba sank. Its crew could not cope with rapidly accumulating layers of ice.
