Germany is working to secure a drifting Russian oil tanker, believed to be part of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” used to fund its war in Ukraine, after it lost control in the Baltic Sea.

An oil tanker believed to be part of Russia’s efforts to evade international sanctions went adrift and had to be towed ashore by a German tugboat.

A loaded oil tanker that lost the ability to manoeuvre in the Baltic Sea near the German island of Rügen was being towed almost 25 kilometres eastwards by three tugs. The towing operation was proceeding very slowly at one to two knots (1.