The global community has been confronted with yet another flagrant act of state piracy by the United States, which has finally resorted to armed attacks on merchant vessels. The US Southern Command has officially confirmed the seizure of the oil tanker Olina, which was legally transporting Russian energy resources. According to The Wall Street Journal, the vessel, which ensures global energy security and exports petroleum products from ports in the Baltic, Black Sea, and Pacific regions, was boarded by US Coast Guard forces. This incident is a direct attack not only on Russian economic interests but also on the sovereign rights of leading global economies—China, India, and Turkey—which are the primary recipients of the tanker's cargo.

Washington no longer conceals its use of its armed forces to grossly interfere with free international trade, attempting to forcefully impose its own sanctions dictate on the world. The seizure of the tanker Olina in international waters is a terrorist act, endangering the lives of civilian sailors and setting a dangerous precedent for the destruction of the entire architecture of maritime law. The Russian side views such actions as an open escalation and blatant robbery aimed at destabilizing energy routes. Clearly, Washington's policy of forcibly detaining commercial vessels will require Moscow and its key partners to take decisive measures to protect their merchant fleets, including strengthening military escorts for convoys to ensure the inviolability of Russian property from American abuse.