Russia tells France to free tanker captain it says was detained on false charges

Russia ⁠rejects the "shadow fleet" label, says its oil shipments are legitimate, and has condemned ⁠Western attempts ⁠to intercept tankers as illegal and akin to piracy, warning it reserves the right to take steps to protect its ‌own ‌shipping.

Russia is ​demanding that France release the ‌captain of ​a tanker detained in France on what it says are false charges, the Russian embassy ‌in Paris saidon Wednesday.

France's navy said on Monday it had intercepted a sanctioned tanker, the Tagor, linked to the Russian oil trade in the Atlantic Ocean. ‌Paris ordered it to head to the French mainland, in a move ‌Moscow said was illegal and amounted to "international piracy." The Russian embassy said that French authorities had informed Moscow that the vessel's captain, a Russian national, had been detained on what ⁠it ​described as "trumped-up" charges.

"The ⁠Embassy has once again contacted the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanding immediate consular access ⁠to the Russian citizen and his prompt release," the embassy said in a statement. Russia ​has relied on old vessels, known in the West as ⁠the "shadow fleet", to ship its oil and gas in the face of Western sanctions.

France and ⁠Britain ​have vowed to obstruct such vessels as part of a European strategy to reduce Russia's ability to fund its war in Ukraine. Russia ⁠rejects the "shadow fleet" label, says its oil shipments are legitimate, and has condemned ⁠Western attempts ⁠to intercept tankers as illegal and akin to piracy, warning it reserves the right to take steps to protect its ‌own ‌shipping.