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Last Updated:June 01, 2026, 17:55 IST
A video released by Macron showed the moment French commandos were deployed onto the tanker, rappelling from a helicopter onto the vessel’s deck in rough Atlantic waters.
French military personnel hovering in a helicopter above the Tagor, a sanctioned Russian oil tanker, some 400 nautical miles west of France's Brittany coast. (AFP photo)
France said on Monday it had detained a Russia-linked oil tanker in the Atlantic in a high-seas operation aimed at disrupting Moscow’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet, prompting a sharp response from the Kremlin, which called the move “international piracy".
The tanker, identified as the Tagor, was boarded on Sunday morning in international waters with support from Britain and other partners after its Russian captain refused to comply with orders, according to prosecutors.
The vessel is now being escorted by the French navy to an anchorage point for further inspection.
Dramatic mid-air boarding operation
A video released by President Emmanuel Macron showed the moment French commandos were deployed onto the tanker, rappelling from a helicopter onto the vessel’s deck in rough Atlantic waters.
La Marine nationale a arraisonné hier matin un nouveau pétrolier sous sanctions internationales en provenance de Russie : le Tagor. Notre détermination est constante et totale.Cette intervention a été effectuée en Atlantique, en haute mer,… pic.twitter.com/zxEslYjbUE
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 1, 2026
Armed personnel can be seen securing the ship as the boarding team establishes control. The interception took place more than 400 nautical miles (740 kilometres) west of Brittany, officials said.
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News world France Seizes Russian Shadow Fleet Tanker In Dramatic Atlantic Operation | Video
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