France releases seized Russia's shadow fleet tanker
Photo: Oil tanker known as Grinch (War&Sanctions)
France has released a recently seized Russian shadow fleet tanker. Paris separately informed Kyiv of the decision, Le Monde reports.
The outlet writes that on January 29, French President Emmanuel Macron told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a phone call that French authorities were forced to allow the tanker Grinch to return to sea.
The oil tanker, suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet, had been detained last week for legal reasons but has now been released. Macron assured Zelenskyy that France will reform its legislation to ensure it can immobilize Russian tankers in the future.
Ukrainian media report that Zelenskyy, on January 30, called on all countries with influence over tanker immobilization to take action, seizing Russian ships not temporarily, but permanently. This, he said, would make the situation much more difficult for Russia.
The Russian shadow fleet tanker Grinch was detained by the French Navy on January 22, 2026, in the western Mediterranean Sea, in an operation conducted jointly with the British Navy.
After the seizure, the tanker’s captain, an Indian citizen, was taken into custody. The tanker was brought to the French coast and run aground in the port of Marseille-Fos. Until recently, it was planned that it would remain there.
Recently, a group of 14 EU countries warned Russian shadow fleet tankers in the Baltic and North Seas. Those vessels that fail to meet specific requirements will be treated as stateless ships.
