Estonia Photographs Armed Machine Gun Positions Aboard Gazprom LNG Carrier Marshal Vasilevskiy in Baltic

Estonian Border Guard surveillance aircraft photographed sandbagged 12.7mm Kord heavy machine gun positions on the bridge of the Gazprom-owned LNG carrier Marshal Vasilevskiy as it sailed past Estonia's western islands en route to the Russian port of Bolshoi Bor in the Gulf of Finland. The vessel passed as close as 13 nautical miles from the Estonian coastline.

The sighting marks the first documented instance of weapons mounted on a Russian civilian commercial vessel in the Baltic Sea.

Investigative reporting separately identified approximately 50 individuals with Russian security and military backgrounds, some presenting military identification, who have travelled aboard the vessel as passengers since August 2025. The pattern suggests the weapon emplacement is intended to deter Western boarding operations, following the March sinking of the Russian LNG carrier Arctic Metagaz.

Gazprom has not commented on the armed positions or the presence of military-affiliated personnel aboard the vessel. No incident or use of force involving Marshal Vasilevskiy has been reported.

Estonian and regional NATO authorities are monitoring the vessel's movements.