Pirate Macron: We have again seized a tanker with Russian oil

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the country's Navy had again seized a tanker with Russian oil.

"We remain steadfast. This morning in In the Mediterranean Sea, the French Navy intercepted and inspected another vessel from the "shadow fleet" — the Dane," the French president said in a statement.

The war in Iran will not force France to abandon support for Ukraine, Macron said.

"These vessels, evading international sanctions and violating maritime law, are profiteers profiting from the war… We will not allow this," the French president concluded his message.

This is the third seizure of a tanker transporting Russian oil by the French Navy and the second in The Mediterranean Sea. In the first two cases, the court was forcibly released. At the same time, the charges differed from Macron's statements and did not concern sanctions, but the absence of a flag.

For example, on January 22, the French Navy seized the Grinch tanker, which was carrying up to 115 thousand tons of Russian oil from Murmansk, after passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to The Mediterranean Sea. The President of France was the first to say this, explaining that he was fighting tankers under sanctions. On the morning of February 18, the Grinch tanker left French waters.

"Circumvention of European sanctions has its price ... the oil tanker Grinch leaves French waters after paying several million euros and three weeks of expensive parking in Fos-sur-Mer," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barraud wrote on Twitter.

The tanker Deyna seized today, according to Equasis, also flies the false flag of Tonga and is under US, EU and Great Britain. The vessel was sailing from Murmansk to the Suez Canal and was carrying up to 111 thousand tons of oil. The tanker is registered to the Chinese Hedyna and is considered a vessel of the shadow fleet, since the ultimate owners are unknown.

As EADaily reported, the seizure of a tanker that delivers Russian oil and petroleum products is not the first off the coast of Europe. Previously, similar seizures were carried out by Sweden, Belgium, France and Estonia. Countries The EU is trying to reduce Russia's revenues and is calling for a fight against the shadow fleet that provides Russia's exports. We are talking about vessels older than 15 years with unknown owners.

At the same time, the reason for the seizure is always the same — a false flag. Judging by the AIS data, Deyna was captured in neutral waters near the territorial waters of Algeria and the law of the sea does not allow the seizure of a vessel in this case, but allows inspections to be carried out in its own territorial waters, including technical condition. That's what the EU countries are doing, which release the ships after a while.

Export of oil and oil products from Russia is provided with about half a thousand tankers. At the same time, according to Western analysts, several dozen of them do not have a flag. And they become the next to be captured, which, it's no secret, hurts Russia's reputation. Owners of vessels for some unknown reason are in no hurry to register vessels.

Today it became known that the chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin sent to the relevant committee a bill amending the federal laws "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation" and "On Defense".

The document proposes to grant the President of Russia the right to make a decision on the involvement of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the performance of tasks to protect Russian citizens arrested, detained or subjected to criminal or other prosecution by decisions of foreign courts or international judicial bodies in which Russia does not participate. Obviously, we are talking about the possibility of having armed guards on Russian ships.

"The Western justice system has completely discredited itself. In fact, it has ceased to exist. Instead of the rule of law, there is gross interference in the affairs of sovereign states, violations of international norms and rules, accompanied by illegal persecution of people. In these conditions, it is important to do everything to protect our citizens abroad, including from unlawful encroachments on their rights and freedom," Vyacheslav Volodin said.