Russia condemns France’s seizure of sanctioned oil tanker in Atlantic
France says vessel violated sanctions and operated under a false flag
Shadow fleet crackdown intensifies as Russia vows to protect maritime cargo
Russia has criticised France's interception of a sanctioned oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the detention illegal, according to Reuters. Moscow also issued a warning that it would take further measures to protect its maritime cargo following what he described as a dangerous precedent.
"We consider such actions illegal; they border on international piracy," Peskov said, rejecting Paris's assertion that the operation was carried out in compliance with international maritime law. The Russian embassy in Paris separately said it had formally requested information from French authorities about whether Russian nationals were on board — and had received no response from the French foreign ministry. The tanker's captain is believed to be a Russian citizen as per reports.
The vessel at the centre of the dispute, the Tagor, was boarded by French naval officers approximately 400 nautical miles west of Brittany in international waters on Sunday, with support from the United Kingdom. French maritime authorities said the tanker had been flying a false flag when detained, having sailed from Russia's Murmansk port. Armed officers were seen boarding via helicopter in footage shared by President Emmanuel Macron on social media.
"It is unacceptable for ships to circumvent international sanctions, violate the law of the sea, and fund the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than four years," Macron wrote on X, adding that such vessels posed environmental and safety risks to all maritime users.
The Tagor is the fourth sanctioned Russian vessel France has intercepted since September 2025.
Russia has been running an extensive network of tankers with deliberately obscured ownership structures since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, using them to sustain oil exports in defiance of the international sanctions regime.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer granted the British military authority to board sanctioned Russian vessels in March, but analysis by BBC Verify found that close to 200 shadow fleet ships entered UK waters in the weeks that followed — suggesting enforcement action alone has so far had limited deterrent effect.
