Andrei Fedorov warned such a move would be considered an attack on Russia.

“For Russia, it’s a very important thing, because if there will be attack from US, it will be considered as attack on Russia, and it could lead to very critical or maybe even crisis situation in relations between Russia and US,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme

Russian submarines speeding towards the tanker would not fire on the US forces but could cause “technical difficulties” such as a “slight collision."