Greenpeace ship stormed by armed Russian officials who arrest six Britons protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic The Russian coastguard abseiled onto the Arctic Sunrise from helicopterS Greenpeace has condemned the boarding as 'outrageous' Armed Russian officials have boarded a Greenpeace ship and arrested activists, including six Britons, protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic, according to the environmental group. The Arctic Sunrise is in the remote Pechora Sea in the Russian Arctic, near to Russian oil company Gazprom's Prirazlomnaya oil platform to try and prevent attempts to drill for oil in the region. Greenpeace said the Russian coastguard abseiled onto the Arctic Sunrise from helicopters and arrested 25 protesters on-board, including six UK nationals. The armed assault by the Russian coastguard on the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise came after activists attempted to board an oil platform to prevent it drilling in the Arctic In a tweet from the icebreaker, activists said armed guards were attempting to kick down the door of the communications room. They also tweeted: 'Latest from the deck: Crew are sitting on their knees on the helipad with guns pointed at them.' A short time later, contact with the ship was lost, Greenpeace said. It claims the Arctic Sunrise was boarded illegally, as the ship was inside Russia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in which foreign vessels should be free to navigate. These dramatic tweets from the Arctic Sunrise describe the moment armed Russian coastguard officials boarded the vessel Two activists had already been arrested by the coastguard for a protest in which they scaled the Gazprom oil rig. Pictures of the incident released by the group showed water cannon being used, and also Russian security officials with weapons drawn. In the latest Twitter updates for the Arctic Sunrise, everyone aboard was being held under armed guard in the mess. It was reported that no one had been hurt and 'spirits are high', but that the crew were not in control of the ship. Greenpeace has condemned the boarding of Arctic Sunrise as a 'an outrageous reaction to peaceful protest'. An armed coastguard points a gun at an activist aboard a Greenpeace boat as they attempted to disrupt the Russian oil drilling operation The environmental group is campaigning against attempts by oil companies to extract oil from the waters of the Arctic, warning a spill would be highly environmentally damaging and that extraction of more fossil fuels will add to climate change. The environmental group said Gazprom's plans to start drilling from the Prirazlomnaya platform in the first quarter of 2014 raised the risk of an oil spill in an area that contains three nature reserves protected by Russian law. Activists including the organisation's executive director, Kumi Naidoo, occupied the same platform in August 2012. Water cannon was used to try and stop Greenpeace activists climbing onto the oil platform Mr Naidoo said: 'This illegal boarding of a peaceful protest ship highlights the extreme lengths that the Russian government will go to to keep Gazprom's dangerous Arctic drilling away from public scrutiny. We ask President (Vladimir) Putin to restrain the coast guard and order them to holster their guns and withdraw. We are a peaceful organisation and our protest has done nothing to warrant this level of aggression. Ben Ayliffe, head of Greenpeace International's Arctic oil campaign, added: 'Drilling for oil here in the Arctic is a grave environmental risk that must be stopped and this is why Greenpeace International came here, taking peaceful action to defend the environment on behalf of the millions of people around the world who are opposed to drilling operations.'