France boarded and detained the Russian-linked oil tanker Deliver off Sicily for flying a false flag and attempting to evade sanctions, part of a pattern of France targeting Russia's 'shadow fleet.'

French maritime authorities intercepted and boarded the Russian-linked oil tanker Deliver off the coast of Sicily on June 23, 2026. The vessel was flying a false flag (Cameroonian) and was sailing from Russia's Baltic port of Primorsk. France suspects the tanker is part of Russia's 'shadow fleet' which uses flag-hopping and invalid registrations to evade Western sanctions imposed after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This is the fifth vessel linked to this shadow fleet boarded by France since September 2025. Previous incidents include other oil tankers suspected of false flags and sanctions circumvention. French President Emmanuel Macron declared France will not allow the shadow fleet to finance Russia's war effort. Russia condemned these detentions as 'piracy.'