French President Emmanuel Macron says vessel subject to international sanctions, suspected of ‘flying false flag’.
Published On 22 Jan 2026
The French Navy has intercepted a tanker in the Mediterranean that officials allege belongs to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, designed to evade international sanctions.
In a statement shared on social media on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the oil tanker was “coming from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag”.
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“The operation was conducted on the high seas in the Mediterranean, with the support of several of our allies. It was carried out in strict compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Macron said.
He added that the vessel was diverted and that an investigation has been launched.
Local maritime authorities said the navy seized an oil tanker called “Grinch” between Spain and Morocco.
The interception comes as the European Union has imposed more than a dozen sanctions packages against Russia in response to the country’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
But Moscow continues to sell millions of barrels of oil to other countries such as China and India, typically at discounted prices, despite the economic curbs.
Much of the oil is carried by a “shadow fleet” of vessels operating outside of the Western maritime industry.
A November report from the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air found that more than 100 Russian vessels flew a false flag in the first nine 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.
“This is exactly the kind of resolve needed to ensure that Russian oil no longer finances Russia’s war,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “Russian tankers operating near European shores must be stopped.”
The Russian embassy in France said it was not notified about the interception, Russian news agency TASS reported.
“At the moment, together with diplomats from the Consulate General in Marseille, we are trying to find out whether there are any Russian citizens among the crew members in order to provide the necessary assistance,” the embassy said.
