French President Emmanuel Macron says vessel topic to worldwide sanctions, suspected of ‘flying false flag’.
Printed On 22 Jan 2026
The French Navy has intercepted a tanker within the Mediterranean that officers allege belongs to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, designed to evade worldwide sanctions.
In a press release shared on social media on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned the oil tanker was “coming from Russia, topic to worldwide sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag”.
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“The operation was carried out on the excessive seas within the Mediterranean, with the assist of a number of of our allies. It was carried out in strict compliance with the United Nations Conference on the Legislation of the Sea,” Macron mentioned.
He added that the vessel was diverted and that an investigation has been launched.
Native maritime authorities mentioned the navy seized an oil tanker referred to as “Grinch” between Spain and Morocco.
The interception comes because the European Union has imposed greater than a dozen sanctions packages towards Russia in response to the nation’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However Moscow continues to promote tens of millions of barrels of oil to different international locations similar to China and India, sometimes at discounted costs, regardless of the financial curbs.
A lot of the oil is carried by a “shadow fleet” of vessels working exterior of the Western maritime trade.
A November report from the Helsinki-based Centre for Analysis on Power and Clear Air discovered that greater than 100 Russian vessels flew a false flag within the first 9 months of 2025, transporting about 11 million tonnes of oil valued at 4.7 billion euros ($5.5bn).
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his French counterpart Macron for intercepting the vessel.
“That is precisely the sort of resolve wanted to make sure that Russian oil not funds Russia’s conflict,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “Russian tankers working close to European shores have to be stopped.”
The Russian embassy in France mentioned it was not notified in regards to the interception, Russian information company TASS reported.
“In the meanwhile, along with diplomats from the Consulate Basic in Marseille, we’re looking for out whether or not there are any Russian residents among the many crew members with a purpose to present the required help,” the embassy mentioned.
