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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov promised asymmetrical responses to Western detentions of Russian shadow fleet tankers on 10 November, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Lavrov said the European Union is becoming a military alliance that seizes foreign vessels and steals their cargoes. He argued that the term shadow fleet has no basis in international law and that the oil price cap bars European companies from working with the Russian fleet. He said pressure would be met with a mirrored, asymmetric response, but announced no specific measures. Citing The Moscow Times, the report said Western detentions of vessels carrying Russian oil intensified at the start of 2026, with France, Sweden and the United Kingdom among those joining. The Moscow Times said shadow vessels are being intercepted in the Baltic, Mediterranean and Indian Oceans. The case it highlighted involved DF Peak, a sanctioned tanker flying the Benin flag and bound for Chile, which the French Navy detained in the Indian Ocean. It was the sixth tanker of the shadow fleet France has detained in a year. The vessel belonged to Sovcomflot, changed its name twice and is operated by a Hong Kong company. The Russian Embassy in France called the detention piracy and a gross violation of international law.