France intercepts Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker in operation off Réunion Island

French soldiers abseil from a helicopter onto the oil tanker DF Peak during an operation to intercept it in the Indian Ocean, near Réunion, on 12 October 2026. © État-major des Armées / France

France’s navy has boarded an oil tanker suspected of helping Russia evade Western sanctions in an operation hundreds of kilometres south of the French Indian Ocean territory of Réunion Island.

President Macron confirmed on Monday that French forces intercepted the DF Peak, a Benin-flagged tanker included on the European Union’s sanctions list as part of efforts to disrupt the so-called Russian “shadow fleet”.