France's TotalEnergies Sued For Complicity In Russian War Crimes

Total Energies faces legal action for allegedly helping fuel Russian planes that have bombed Ukraine, French media say, George Styllis and Berny Torre reported for The Telegraph.

Photo Insert: TotalEnergies until recently owned a 49-percent share in Terneftegaz, a company that extracts gas from the Termokarstovoye field in northern Russia.

The French energy giant was accused of "complicity in war crimes" in a legal complaint handed to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor on Thursday.

The file accused TotalEnergies of contributing to provide the Russian government with "the necessary means to commit war crimes" by "continuing to exploit the Termokarstovoye deposit,"

It was lodged by the France-based Darwin Climax Coalition and Ukrainian group Razom We Stand after Le Monde newspaper in August said TotalEnergies held a stake in a company that extracted gas condensate from northern Russia, some of which was turned into jet fuel used by Russian air squadrons accused of war crimes in Ukraine.

TotalEnergies until recently owned a 49-percent share in Terneftegaz, a company that extracts gas from the Termokarstovoye field in northern Russia.

The other 51 percent was held by Russian company Novatek, in which the French firm also owns a direct 19.4 percent stake. After the article in Le Monde, the French giant said it had on July 18 sold its 49-percent share in Terneftegaz to Novatek.

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