French Navy Intercepts Russian Tanker  06/01 06:34

   

   PARIS (AP) -- The French Navy, with support from the United Kingdom, has 
intercepted an oil tanker under international sanctions that was traveling from 
Russia, the most recent effort by nations that support Ukraine to target 
Russian oil exports helping to finance President Vladimir Putin's war.

   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."

   Responding to the latest French interception, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry 
Peskov said Monday that Russia "considers such actions illegal."

   "They border on piracy," he said Monday. "We absolutely disagree that they 
are being carried out in full compliance with international law."

   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.