France detains another Russian shadow fleet tanker
French President Emmanuel Macron has reported the detention in the Mediterranean Sea of the vessel Deyna belonging to Russia's shadow fleet, which Moscow has used to circumvent Western restrictions on its energy sector imposed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
This is the second tanker from Russia's shadow fleet detained by the French military.
According to France's maritime prefecture, the tanker was sailing under the flag of Mozambique and was travelling from Russia's Murmansk.
The operation was carried out under Article 110 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The vessel is suspected of using a false flag.
The prefecture said that the operation was conducted jointly with the United Kingdom. The military is currently escorting the tanker to a holding location, where it will undergo additional inspections.
Macron stressed in his post that this demonstrates that the war in Iran is not distracting Paris from supporting Ukraine.
Nous gardons le cap.La Marine française a arraisonné ce matin en Méditerranée un nouveau bateau de la flotte fantôme, le Deyna.La guerre en Iran ne détournera pas la France du soutien à l’Ukraine où la guerre d’agression de la Russie se poursuit.… pic.twitter.com/ZylRHZ8zHw– Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron)
"These vessels, which evade international sanctions and violate the law of the sea, are profiteers of war. They line their pockets while helping finance Russia's war effort," Macron wrote on X.
On 22 January, France, with the support of the UK, detained the tanker Grinch near the Spanish coast after inspecting documents that confirmed suspicions the vessel was sailing under a false flag. The tanker is part of Russia's shadow fleet and is under EU and UK sanctions.
Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Macron had told him about plans to release the tanker due to legal requirements.
Zelenskyy has also said that it would be appropriate to modernise European legislation so that tankers transporting Russian oil can not only be detained but also confiscated.
In February, Bloomberg reported that European countries were discussing the possibility of seizing tankers belonging to Russia's shadow fleet.
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25 of March 2026
