French authorities informed the Russian Embassy that the Russian captain of the tanker Tagor was detained on June 2. TASS reported this on June 3, referring to the diplomatic mission.
The embassy indicated that the accusations against the captain are far from the truth. The Russian diplomatic mission calls on the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide consular access to the captain and ensure his release TASS.
On June 1, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the seizure of a tanker that was allegedly heading from Murmansk. Initially, information appeared on the Internet that the tanker was sailing under the Madagascar flag. But it later turned out that she was flying the Cameroonian flag.
Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow considers the French side’s seizure of its tanker illegal, which is considered piracy.
Meanwhile, the French Navy believes it belongs to the Russian “shadow fleet.” Before that, the country’s authorities had already detained similar tankers. The crew consisted of many foreigners, but the ship was still linked to the Russian Federation. Why are tankers detained abroad and why they are “attributed” to Russia, Vechernyaya Moskva investigated the matter.