France’s navy has boarded an oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet, according to President Emmanuel Macron.
The Monday, June 1st action against an oil tanker reportedly named the Tagor took place in the Atlantic, with UK backing. Macron posted 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.
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.
Separately, the Maritime Prefecture of the Atlantic stated that the French navy had intervened on an unnamed oil tanker from Murmansk, Russia more than 400 nautical miles (740km) west of the tip of Brittany.
The term ‘shadow fleet’ is used to describe part of Moscow’s ‘false flag’ shipping and logistics operation that has allowed it to maintain oil revenue, despite the sanctions regime imposed following its invasion of Ukraine four years ago.
