France’s military seized the tanker DF Peak, suspected of being part of Russia’s sanctions-skirting shadow fleet, and is escorting it to Reunion Island after questioning the vessel’s flag registry. The ship, previously named Kaliningrad and flagged from Benin, is at least the fifth Russian-linked tanker France has seized since 2024 and had already been hit by U.S., U.K., and EU sanctions. Moscow condemned the seizure as piracy and a violation of international law, saying it had not been notified of the interception. The incident underscores Europe’s increasingly forceful approach to shadow-fleet vessels, which attempt to skirt enforcement of sanctions against Russian oil, even as Washington has moved to ease some Russian diesel sanctions amid rising fuel prices.

Full report: France seizes another ‘shadow fleet’ tanker; Russia decries ‘piracy’.