French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that the French navy intercepted an oil tanker near the coast of Sicily. The move is part of France's latest action against the shadow fleet Russia uses to ship oil and gas to skirt Western sanctions.
French maritime authorities stated that the vessel was flying a false flag and is the fifth alleged Russian vessel France has boarded. Macron said that France will not allow the shadow fleet to circumvent sanctions and finance Russia's war effort.
This action in the Mediterranean comes as Europe seeks to crack down on Russian shadow-fleet ships used to export sanctioned crude. Earlier this month, the UK announced that it had also intercepted and boarded the Russian shadow fleet tanker Smyrtos in the English Channel.