French Navy Seizes Russian Tanker, Defying Sanctions

Global stories making news on March 20, French naval forces intercepted a tanker called

the Dana in the Western Mediterranean Sea on Friday.

They boarded the vessel, which French President Emmanuel Macron linked to Russia's shadow

fleet shipping oil, despite international sanctions tied to.

The war in Ukraine.

The operation involved cooperation with allies, like the United Kingdom, which kept watch

on the ship.

Authorities suspect the tanker was using a false flag.

It was diverted to a secure anchorage for inspections, and the case now heads the prosecutors

in Marseille.

Macron slammed the ship as part of a profiteering operation that breaks sea laws and funds Russia's

war machine.

He made clear France would not stand by, while these vessels skirt global rules.

This fits a pattern of French crackdowns.

Back in January, the Navy stopped another tanker from Russia in the same region, which later

paid millions of euros and fines before release.

In September, they boarded a similar vessel off the Atlantic coast.

France and its partners remain committed to targeting this shadow fleet of hundreds of

ships, aiming to tighten the squeeze on Russia's oil exports, and support for the conflict.