|
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the interception in a
post Monday on X, saying the Tagor was boarded on Sunday in the
Atlantic. The post included a video showing a person rappelling
from a helicopter onto a ship. It is the latest in a series of
French naval interceptions of tankers suspected of links to
Russia.
“It is unacceptable that boats skirt international sanctions,
violate the law of the sea and finance the war that Russia has
been waging for more than 4 years against Ukraine,” Macron
wrote. “These ships, that don’t respect the most elementary
rules of maritime navigation, are also a threat to the
environment and everyone’s security.”
Oil revenue is a key part of Russia’s economy, allowing Putin to
pour money into the war effort against Ukraine without worsening
inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.
Russia is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships to
evade international sanctions imposed over the war. France and
other countries have vowed to crack down on the sanction-busting
so-called “shadow fleet.”
French maritime authorities said the tanker was intercepted more
than 400 nautical miles west of France, in international waters
in the Atlantic. It was traveling from the northwestern Russian
port of Murmansk, according to the authorities’ statement.
It said the tanker is suspected of operating under a false flag
and that the French navy is now escorting it to an anchorage for
more checks.
Tankers previously intercepted by France include the Deyna,
boarded in the Mediterranean Sea in March. Another tanker, the
Grinch, intercepted in the Mediterranean in January, was
released in February after paying a multimillion-euro penalty.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
|
|
