Shortly after the French authorities detained a Russian oil tanker carrying cargo on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it amounted to “piracy”.
The ship, according to the Russian president, was in neutral international waters when French authorities illegally detained it and took into custody the ship and its sailors, including the captain.
French prosecutors say they’re investigating “serious irregularities”.
The vessel in question, the ‘Boracay’, is sanctioned by the EU and was sailing under a Benin flag when French naval forces boarded it last week.
Questioning the detention, Putin said “it makes no sense”, since the ship was under a foreign flag, with a non-Russian crew.
Also Read: France to raise defence budget amid Russia tensions
He said that investigators were searching for “military cargo, drones or something of that nature; none of that is there, never was and never could be.”
As per sources, the investigation may be connected to unverified drones spotted near the Danish airports and military installations last month.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, also criticised France for speaking “in the language of riddles”, pointing to the lack of specifics in the accusations.
She said that the EU invented the concept of a “shadow fleet” to continue violating international law under false pretences. They are now trying to impose illegal secondary sanctions on Moscow.
The EU has accused Russia of relying on a clandestine network of tankers to skirt restrictions on oil exports imposed after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.
Officials in Brussels say the fleet, often using flags of convenience and opaque ownership structures, poses security and environmental risks while sustaining Moscow’s revenues.
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