The critical cog in Putin’s machine and how British firms help to keep Russian gas flowing into Europe
This is the story of how an obscure company based in an office block on a quiet street in Glasgow became an accessory in Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. It is the story of how Europe and Russia remain locked in a tense relationship of economic dependence, even as they supposedly cut their ties. It is the story of the uncomfortable truth behind why the cost of living crisis came to an end.
But before all of that, it is the story of a ship – a very unusual ship indeed.
If you ever spot the Yakov Gakkel as it sails through the English Channel or the Irish Sea (I first set eyes on it in the Channel but at the time of writing it was sailing northwards, about 20 miles off the coast of Anglesey) you might not find it all that remarkable.
At first glance it looks like many of the other large, nondescript tankers and cargo vessels passing these shores. Its profile is dominated by an enormous blue prow which reaches high out of the water and ends, 50 metres further back, at its unexpectedly angular stern.
Yet the ship’s slightly odd shape – all hull and barely any deck – is the first clue about what makes the Yakov Gakkel so special. Because this is one of the world’s most advanced liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, with an unusual trick up its sleeve.
The Yakov Gakkel tanker
LNG tankers are extraordinary ships, with insides so cleverly engineered they are capable of holding vast amounts of natural gas at temperatures of approximately −163C.
For all that the world is embracing renewable energy, natural gas remains one of the most important energy sources, essential for much of Europe’s heating and power, not to mention its industries. For the time being, there is no cheap way of making many industrial products, from glass and paper to critical chemicals and fertilisers, without gas.
Once upon a time, moving natural gas from one part of the world to another necessitated sending it down long, expensive, vulnerable pipelines, meaning only countries with a physical connection to gas producers could receive this vital fuel. But LNG tankers like the Yakov Gakkel are part of the answer to this problem, since they allow gas producers to send it by sea to anywhere with a terminal capable of turning their supercooled methane back into the gas we use to heat our homes and power our grids.
Politicians in Europe promised to end the continent’s reliance on Russian gas
But the Yakov Gakkel can also do something most other LNG tankers cannot, for that enormous blue double hull allows it to carve through ice, enabling it to travel up into the Arctic Circle and back even in the depths of winter.
And that is precisely what this ship does, more or less constantly: travelling back and forth between Siberia and Europe, through winter and summer, bringing copious volumes of gas from Russia to Europe. It is part of the explanation for how Europe never ran out of gas, even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This is not, it’s worth saying, the conventional wisdom. Back when Russia invaded Ukraine, European policymakers declared they planned to eliminate the continent’s reliance on Russian gas – which accounted for roughly a third of their supplies before 2022.
And many assumed that had already happened – especially after the Nord Stream pipeline, the single biggest source of European gas imports, was sabotaged in late 2022. But while volumes of Russian pipeline gas into Europe have dropped dramatically, the amount of Russian LNG coming into Europe has risen to record levels.
LNG tankers sail between Siberia and various ports in Europe, including Zeebrugge
Russia helps Europe replenish gas stores
Today, Europe still depends on Russia for around 15% of its gas, an ever-growing proportion of which now comes in via the sealanes, on tankers like the Yakov Gakkel. And while the US has stepped in to make up some of the volumes lost when those pipelines stopped, only last month Russia overtook the US to become the second biggest provider of gas to the continent. It’s further evidence that those LNG volumes carried on ships through the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the English Channel, are increasing, rather than falling.
This Russian gas has helped Europe replenish its gas stores, it has helped keep the continent’s heavy industry going throughout the Ukraine war. And this dependence has not come cheap: the total amount Europe has paid Russia for LNG since 2022 comes to around €10bn.
The continued presence of Russian gas running through European grids is at least part of the explanation for why European energy prices have fallen so sharply since those post-invasion highs. Back then, many in the market were pricing in a complete end of Russian gas supply to Europe – something that would have had disastrous consequences. But it never actually happened.
Perhaps this explains why the continent’s politicians have, so far, stopped short of banning imports of Russian gas: they are aware that their economy would struggle to withstand another sharp spike in inflation – which would almost certainly eventuate if it stopped taking Russian gas altogether.
Russian gas has helped keep Europe’s heavy industry going throughout the Ukraine war
This week, European leaders agreed to stop allowing Russia to use its ports to “trans-ship” its LNG – essentially acting as a stop-off point towards other destinations. However, those transshipments account for only a fraction – at most a quarter – of the Russian gas coming in on tankers to Europe. The vast majority ends up in Belgium, France and Spain, heating European homes, fuelling power stations and powering machinery in factories.
While European leaders have imposed wide-ranging sanctions and price caps on shipments of oil, no such controls exist for liquefied natural gas. So the Yakov Gakkel and a fleet of LNG tankers carry on sailing between Siberia and various ports in Europe – Zeebrugge, Dunkirk, Montoir and Bilbao – keeping the continent supplied with the Russian hydrocarbons it still cannot live without.
British firm’s role in lucrative trade
But there is another reason why this ship is particularly unique, for the Yakov Gakkel – this critical cog in the financial machine that helps finance the Russian regime – is actually part-owned and operated by a British company.
That brings us back to a street overlooking the Clyde in Glasgow, where, in a glass-fronted office block, you will find the operational headquarters of a company called Seapeak. The chances are you haven’t heard of Seapeak before, but this business owns and operates a fleet of LNG tankers all across the world.
That fleet includes the Yakov Gakkel and four other LNG icebreakers that ply this Siberian trade. That a British company might be facilitating this lucrative trade for Russia might come as a surprise, but there is nothing illegal about this: the sanctions regime on Russia just turns out to be significantly more porous than you might have thought.
We tried repeatedly to speak to Seapeak – to ask them about the Yakov Gakkel and whether they felt it was appropriate – given the UK has forsworn LNG imports – that a British company and British workers are helping administer this Russian trade. We sent emails with questions. However, they did not respond to our calls or our emails.
When, after weeks of efforts to get a response, I visited their offices in Glasgow, I was met by a security guard who told me Seapeak would not see me without an appointment (which they were refusing to give me). Eventually I was told that if I would not leave they would call the police.
A security guard at Seapeak’s offices in Glasgow said no one was available to speak to Sky News
Seapeak is not the only British company helping keep Russian gas flowing. While British insurers are banned from protecting oil tankers carrying Russian crude, there’s no equivalent sanction on Russian LNG ships, with the upshot that many of these tankers are insured by British companies operating out of the Square Mile.
We spent some time tracking another icebreaking tanker, the Vladimir Rusanov, as it approached Zeebrugge. It is insured by the UK P&I Club, which also insures a number of other LNG carriers.
In a statement, it said: “The UK Club takes great care to observe all applicable sanctions regulations in relation to Russian energy cargoes, but the direct carriage of LNG from Yamal to Zeebrugge, and provision of insurance services for such carriage, is not presently sanctioned. If the EU and G7 nations were to change their policy… the Club would of course comply by adjusting or withdrawing its services, as necessary.”
The Vladimir Rusanov off the coast of Zeebrugge
The transport of Russian gas into Europe – its dependence on British operators and insurers – is only one small example of the loopholes and omissions in the UK sanctions regime. But while government ministers have expressed concern about the effectiveness of the broader sanctions regime, there is still scant evidence they intend to tighten up this corner of it.
Before the election was called the Treasury Select Committee was in the middle of collecting evidence for its own inquiry into the regime, which was expected to focus on insurers of vessels taking Russian goods. However, the inquiry was wound up prematurely when the election was called in May.
Read more on Sky News:
EU sanctions target Russian gas for first time
Russian oil still seeping into the UK
In the meantime, ships like the Yakov Gakkel carry on taking billions of cubic metres of gas from the gas fields of Yamal in Siberia down to Europe, in exchange for billions of euros. And those and other hydrocarbon revenues are one of the main explanations for how Russia is able to produce more missiles and weapons than the Ukrainians.
So Europe carries on fuelling its industry and its power and heating grids with molecules of gas coming from Siberian gasfields, while assuring itself it’s doing everything it can to fight Vladimir Putin.
It is, in short, a discomforting situation. But given the alternative is to induce another cost of living crisis, there is little appetite in Europe to change things.
Talks to try to end the Birmingham bin strike that has seen piles of black rubbish bags fill the pavements of the city will resume today.
Mounds of waste remain uncollected, while residents have started to take matters into their own hands.
Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on 31 March, saying the “regrettable” move was taken in response to public health concerns, as picket lines were blocking depots and preventing waste vehicles from collecting rubbish.
The all-out strike started on 11 March, but waste collections have been disrupted since January.
Here is everything you need to know.
From 20 April. Pic: PA
How long have workers been striking?
More than 350 workers of the Unite union began a series of walkouts in January and decided to escalate into indefinite strike action on 11 March, citing fear over further attacks on their jobs, pay and conditions.
The union has said that the removal of the role of waste recycling and collection officer (WRCO) role will leave about 150 workers £8,000 worse off – as the number of workers working on bin lorries will be reduced from four to three.
From 1 April: Workers on the picket line outside Birmingham waste depot
The council said it scrapped the WRCO role to put the city’s waste operations in line with national practice and to improve its waste collection service.
It said all workers have been offered alternative employment at the same pay, driver training or voluntary redundancy and that offer remains open.
Three military planners are understood to have been assigned to the city to provide logistical support to Birmingham’s council for a short period of time.
What are the impacts?
Normally, the city’s waste teams would make more than half a million collections in a week with 200 vehicles deployed over eight-hour daily shifts.
This has been reduced to just over 26,000 since the start of April, according to the latest council figures.
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From 14 April: Bin strikes clean-up could cost over £200m
The cost of the ongoing clean-up could cause even more damage to the council, which effectively declared bankruptcy in 2023. One waste management agency told Sky News that totally clearing the backlog could cost more than £200m.
The strike has become one of the longest the UK has seen in recent years.
Back in 1978-79, the winter of discontent led to rubbish piling up on the streets of London, as the waste collection industry joined other trade unions in demanding larger pay rises in response to government caps.
More recently, more than 200 bin workers in the Wirral went on a week-long strike in 2022, eventually securing a 15% pay rise. In the same year, a similar dispute over pay saw rubbish pile up in Edinburgh during the city’s busy festival season.
Overflowing bins on a street in Birmingham on 20 April
Pic: PA
Why is it taking so long to settle the dispute?
Unite, the union representing striking workers, and the city council have failed to reach an agreement since the strike began in March, with Unite holding firm on the strike action despite pressure from the government.
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Bin workers reject council offer
Members rejected the council’s latest offer on 14 April by 97% on 60% turnout, saying it was “totally inadequate” and did not address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers.
The union’s general secretary Sharon Graham said the rejection was “no surprise” as “workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision”.
Meanwhile, the government and council said it was a “significantly improved” offer.
Tyseley Lane on 10 April
Responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons on 22 April, communities minister Jim McMahon said “significant progress” had been made in dealing with the remaining tonnes of rubbish.
He said through “a concerted effort” and with the assistance of other councils, private operators and workers, 26,000 tonnes of excess waste had been removed, and the levels were “approaching normal”.
Council leader John Cotton told Sky News’ Midlands correspondent Lisa Dowd on 16 April that it “pains” him to see pictures of mounds of rubbish and rats feeding off the mess being broadcast around the world.
He said the only way for the normal waste collection schedule to resume was for the strike to end – but added the cash-strapped council has “red lines” that it will not cross during negotiations.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner visited the city on 10 April and urged the union to end the “misery and disruption” by accepting a pay deal.
Angela Rayner ‘urged’ the union to accept the council’s deal
How have residents been affected?
Mounting rubbish has led to residents complaining of a risk to public health, with rotting food attracting foxes, cockroaches and rats.
Rashid Campbell, a local resident who is part of a volunteer litter-picking team from the Birmingham Central Mosque, told Sky’s Shamaan Freeman-Powell that 12 members of his team collected 24 bags of rubbish from two Birmingham streets on Easter Sunday.
“If we don’t [litter-pick], we’re just going to be drowning in rubbish,” he said.
Latifat Abdul Majed Isah said even in some places where bins have been taken away, the street remained “dirty, unpalatable and unpleasant to see”.
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Volunteers take action amid bin strikes
Joseph McHale, a rat-catcher from Vergo Pest Management, told Sky News at the beginning of April that discarded bin bags provide vermin with “somewhere to hide, somewhere to feed, somewhere to stay warm”.
He said his business had seen a 60% increase in people from Birmingham calling them for help.
By declaring a major incident, the council was able to free up an additional 35 vehicles and crews to clear rubbish and fly-tipping from the streets.
The limited number of waste trucks are deployed each morning from three depots across the city and cover multiple different routes.
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Examining Birmingham’s ‘rat super highway’
Residents are also able to dispose of household general waste and bulky items at the council’s mobile household waste centres, without prebooking.
To recycle household items, locals are required to book a slot at one of the council’s household recycling centres.
Could it spread to other areas?
The union’s general secretary has warned the strikes could “absolutely” spread to other areas.
“If other councils decide to make low-paid workers pay for bad decisions that they did not make, workers paying the price yet again, then absolutely, of course, we all have to take action in those other areas,” Sharon Graham told LBC.
The union’s national lead officer Onay Kasab agreed, telling BBC Four: “Well, if other local authorities look to cut the pay of essential public service workers, then there is the potential for strike action spreading.
“That’s why different political choices need to be made.”
Ms Graham also criticised the government, saying it had taken them “a huge amount of time to get involved in the dispute”.
With the death of Pope Francis, cardinals from around the world will soon gather in the Vatican to choose a new pontiff. Francis, of course, hailed from Argentina – but could the next pope be British?
It’s been 866 years since the papacy of Britain’s only ever pontiff (Pope Adrian IV) ended in 1159, and the history of the Catholic Church in the UK since then has been turbulent, with King Henry VIII perhaps the main culprit.
There are currently four British cardinals, three of whom are young enough to vote in the conclave.
And while none of them are considered odds-on favourites for the top job, it’s true that surprises do happen behind the shuttered doors of the secretive congregation of cardinals.
So who are the British cardinals, and could one of them be the next pope?
Cardinal Vincent Nichols. Pic: PA
Head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, 79
Born in Crosby near Liverpool, as a child Cardinal Vincent Nichols hoped to be a lorry driver but as a teenager reportedly felt the calling to join the priesthood while watching Liverpool FC.
He has served as the Archbishop of Westminster since 2009, the most senior position in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Before that he was the Archbishop of Birmingham.
As cardinal, he is known for leading the church’s work tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, for which he received the UN Path to Peace Award.
He was criticised by the UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which said he “demonstrated a lack of understanding” of the impact of abuse and “seemingly put the reputation of the church first”.
Cardinal Nichols, responding to the findings, told Sky News he was “ashamed at what has happened in the context of the Catholic Church” and promised to improve the church’s response.
“He has quite a reputation,” says religious historian and writer Catherine Pepinster. “But I don’t think anybody has suggested he should be made pope.”
He himself has appeared to rule himself out of the running as well, telling reporters he was “too old, not capable”.
Read more:
Inside Vatican City at moment of high tension
Who will be at the Pope’s funeral – and who won’t be
Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe. Pic: PA
The Francis ally
Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, 79
Born in London in 1945, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe entered the Dominican Order of preachers in 1965 and was ordained as a priest in 1971.
As Master of the Dominican Order – the first Englishman in its 800-year history – he was popular for his speeches around the monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the modern world.
He was appointed cardinal just last year, on 7 December 2024, and is viewed as an ally of Pope Francis who could vote for a candidate who would continue his work.
He’s a popular figure, says Michael Walsh, an expert on Catholic issues, but his age likely rules him out from serious consideration, he added.
“Timothy Radcliffe is an interesting one,” says Ms Pepinster. “There are a lot of people who listen to what he says.
“He has a reputation for speaking very well so possibly (he could be considered), but he’s nearly 80.”
Like Cardinal Nichols, however, Cardinal Radcliffe appears to have confirmed he does not want the job, telling reporters he believed the Holy Spirit was “far too wise to even think of me (as pope) for the shortest moment”.
Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald. Pic: Pierpaolo Scavuzzo/AGF/Shutterstock
The diplomat
Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, 87
Made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019, Michael Fitzgerald has been one of the leading experts on Christian-Muslim relations and served as one of the Catholic Church’s delegates to the Arab League of nations.
His ministry saw him spend time in Africa and he was appointed titular archbishop of Nepte in Tunisia.
He is known for engaging with other faiths and wrote a booklet to help Catholics understand and support Muslims during Ramadan.
He also served as apostolic nuncio to Egypt, a diplomatic role similar to an ambassador.
At 87, he is too old to vote for the next pope but can still play a key role behind the scenes in discussions before the conclave starts.
It’s also not technically impossible for him to be elected pontiff himself, despite being too old to cast his own vote, though it isn’t likely.
Cardinal Arthur Roche. Pic: Evandro Inetti/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
The Vatican insider
Cardinal Arthur Roche, 75
Born in West Yorkshire in 1950, Cardinal Arthur Roche was ordained a priest at the age of 25 in the Diocese of Leeds.
Within the church, some have regarded him as a cleric who was being fast-tracked to hold high office.
His time as Bishop of Leeds was not without controversy, both for liturgical reasons and also for his programme of closures and mergers of churches in his diocese.
He has held various posts in the Vatican and was made an Archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, before being made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022.
Dr Walsh says that Cardinal Roche isn’t viewed as a “significant character”, while Ms Pepinster suggested that his tenure as a Vatican official could work against him when it comes to cardinals coming in from all over the world.
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Cardinals arrive to discuss Pope Francis’s burial
A British pope? Maybe not this time
“I don’t think there’s anything against having an English pope at all,” says Mr Walsh, when asked how Britain was viewed generally.
But with all four British cardinals now 75 or older, age may make them unlikely candidates to be pope, he said.
“I think they will look for someone younger,” he added.
There’s also a growing consensus that, like with Francis, the next pope should come from beyond Europe, Ms Pepinster added.
Many believe that, as the Church has expanded beyond its Catholic heartlands, the next pope should come from elsewhere.
However, Sky News understands there are whispers around the Vatican that suggest the next pope will indeed be from Europe, and likely from Italy.
Asked about the next pope, Cardinal Radcliffe said: “I think that we always open ourselves to be surprised. All recent popes have been quite different from each other.”
UK
Family of man killed by psychiatric patient say they’ve been ‘treated like dirt’ after learning attacker can leave hospital
The family of a dog walker killed by a psychiatric patient say they have been ‘treated like dirt’ by the NHS after learning his attacker has been granted permission to leave hospital.
Lewis Stone was stabbed to death by David Fleet in a random attack in Borth, Wales, in 2019, shortly after Mr Fleet had been released into the community.
Mr Stone’s family were informed of the update to his care just hours after Sky News aired their first TV interview calling for an internal NHS Trust report into its handling of Fleet’s case to be released.
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From 10 April: Victim’s family demand answers over killer’s NHS care
Mr Stone’s stepdaughter, Vicki Lindsay, told Sky News: “As victims, we have been treated disgracefully.
“We still do not know why the killer was released 10 days before he attacked Lewis, who made that decision and why, and who is going to be held accountable for it.
“But as if all that were not bad enough, only six years on, we now get to live knowing that the killer is now allowed out at night time.”
Ms Lindsay also told Sky’s Sarah-Jane Mee that “my biggest fear is that it’s going to happen again – I can’t sleep at night thinking about other families going through what we’ve gone through”.
Mr Fleet was sectioned under the Mental Health Act after admitting manslaughter with diminished responsibility.
He was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attack and told psychiatrists that if he had not stabbed Mr Stone, the voices in his head “were going to kill him”.
Lewis Stone was fatally stabbed in February 2019
Patients who have committed a mental health-related homicide can be granted permission to leave their hospital under Section 17 of the Mental Health Act.
It is considered part of the patient’s rehabilitation and preparation for eventual discharge.
What has the MoJ said?
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We understand this decision will be difficult for the Stone family, and our thoughts are with them.
“Any decision to approve access to the community is only made after a thorough risk assessment and with strict safeguards in place.”
Lewis Stone with his granddaughter Sammy
The Hywel Dda health board says it does not intend to release an internal report into Fleet’s care.
Sharon Daniel, the interim executive director for nursing, quality and patient experience, said: “The duty of candour for patients came into force in Wales in April 2023.
“At the time of this incident and concern, we fulfilled our duties to be open.”
A senior NHS official has called the decision not to release the internal report “callous and uncaring”. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said: “On the face of it, this family has been failed multiple times over.
“Of course, there is a balance to be struck between the rights of the family and the rights of the person detained, but the basic lack of transparency and consideration here undermines the duty of candour.”
Freedom of Information requests made by the victim’s support organisation Hundred Families have found that nearly 400 people were killed by former mental health patients between 2018 and 2023.
However, this number is expected to be a significant underestimate as a quarter of NHS Mental Health Trusts refused to say how many of their patients went on to kill, as they don’t want to risk identifying offenders.
Read more from Sky News:
Van driver ‘took 20 lines of coke’ before killing toddler in crash
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Julian Hendy, who founded Hundred Families, said: “Unfortunately the family of Lewis Stone is not alone. There is a terrible lack of openness and transparency and that needs to change.
“The public needs to know that mental health services are keeping people safe and learning effectively when things go wrong.
“At the moment, by failing to share information the public cannot be reassured.”
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