France has intercepted an oil tanker sailing from Russia and circumventing sanctions in the Atlantic over the weekend, President Emmanuel Macron said in a social media post on Monday. The Tagor was detained Sunday morning in international waters with the help of Britain and other partners, the French president said.
The French Navy on Sunday boarded an oil tanker, named the Tagor, which was subject to international sanctions and sailing from Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X.
"This operation took place in the Atlantic Ocean, on the high seas, with the support of several partners, including the United Kingdom, in strict compliance with the law of the sea," he said.
"It is unacceptable for ships to circumvent international sanctions, violate the law of the sea, and finance the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than four years," he added.
The Kremlin on Monday slammed the seizure as "illegal", comparing the move to "piracy".
"Russia is taking measures to ensure the safety of its cargo," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The Maritime Prefecture of the Atlantic said in a separate statement on Monday that the French Navy had intervened on an oil tanker more than 400 nautical miles (740 km) west of the tip of Brittany, coming from Murmansk, Russia.
"This operation was aimed at checking the nationality of a vessel suspected of flying a false flag. After the inspection team boarded the vessel, an examination of the documents confirmed suspicions regarding the irregularity of the flag flown. In accordance with international law and at the request of the public prosecutor, the vessel was diverted,” it added.
The prefecture did not name the ship.
Read moreFrench navy boards Russia-linked tanker in Mediterranean
This is the latest of several suspected "shadow fleet" tankers intercepted by France in recent months suspected of transporting Russian oil in violation of Western sanctions
A French court in March sentenced in absentia the captain of a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker to one year in jail for failing to comply with orders to stop his ship after the French navy boarded the vessel in September 2025 before releasing it.
France and Britain have both vowed to obstruct ships linked to Russia's sanctioned "shadow fleet" that pass through their waters. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in March that he had granted permission for the UK military to board ships belonging to the "shadow fleet".
However shipping data shows that dozens of sanctioned ships linked to Russia continue to cross UK waters.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
