DF Peak tanker boarding was piracy, Russia says

Russia on Tuesday condemned the French navy's boarding of the tanker DF Peak in the Indian Ocean as “piracy”.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France's navy boarded the tanker off the island of Reunion because it was suspected of illegally smuggling oil. Macron vowed no let-up against the “shadow fleet”, a term used for clandestine ships used by Russia to circumvent Western embargoes imposed over its offensive on Ukraine.

Russia's embassy in Paris said the French navy had seized the tanker on the high seas and called the action a “flagrant violation of international law”. It described the move as “outright piracy and banditry”.

The DF Peak flies a Benin flag and is among 700 ships on the European Union's sanctions list. Before 2024, it was called the Kaliningrad.