The French Navy boarded an oil tanker believed to be ferrying Russian oil in the Mediterranean Sea despite sanctions, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
Macron did not name the tanker, though he said it was “flying a false flag.”
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“This morning, the French Navy boarded an oil tanker coming from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag,” Macron wrote on X. “We will not tolerate any violation.”
“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,” he added.
Macron said an investigation has been opened, and the unnamed vessel has been diverted.
Macron’s announcement coincided with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s criticism on Thursday that Europe should do more to curb Russia of its oil revenue.
In his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelensky called for Russian oil to be halted, confiscated, and sold for the continent’s benefit.
“Russian oil finances the war against Ukraine and destabilizes Europe… If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has no money, there will be no war. If Europe has resources, it can protect its people,” he said.
Despite the EU’s plan to phase out Russian energy imports by 2027, a report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said France and Spain substantially increased their imports of Russian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in December 2025.
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Spain increased its Russian LNG imports by 27%, while France increased its imports by 18% in December, according to the Helsinki-based think tank.
Campaign against shadow tankers
The French Navy’s boarding of the tanker on Thursday follows a string of similar escalations from Kyiv and its allies.
In late 2025, Kyiv began targeting tankers ferrying Russian oil in the Black Sea and beyond. In November, Ukraine struck two tankers in the Black Sea using naval drones, causing fire onboard both vessels. In December, another oil tanker identified as belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” was struck in the Black Sea. In January, one more tanker was struck off Turkey’s Black Sea coast.
The US also began seizing tankers that ferried Russian oil.
On Jan. 7, US forces seized a Russian-flagged tanker known as the Marinera after it evaded a US blockade on Venezuelan oil for over two weeks and was pursued across the Atlantic Ocean.
On Tuesday, the US military’s Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said it captured a tanker named Sagitta – the seventh shadow tanker seized by the US – which was said to be ferrying Venezuelan oil against US restrictions in the Caribbean Sea.
While the US SOUTHCOM did not indicate Sagitta’s relations with Russia, the vessel has been listed in sanction databases for ferrying Russian crude to China and India in the past as part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.