The energy giant “TotalEnergies” was accused of refueling Russian military aircraft in France

Two organizations filed a complaint against the French energy giant TotalEnergies for "complicity in war crimes" in France. They did it for allegedly helping refuel Russian planes that attacked Ukraine.

The French newspaper Le Monde writes about it.

On October 13, the Darwin Climax Coalition and the Ukrainian group Razom We Stand referred the case to the National Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor, who is investigating allegations of war crimes.

The companies accuse the French energy giant of exploiting a gas field to produce kerosene used by Russian planes during the bombing of Ukraine, including the March 16, 2022 strike on a theater in Mariupol.

Until recently, TotalEnergies owned 49% of Ternaftogaz, a company that produces gas in the Thermokarst field in northern Russia. The other 51% belong to the Russian company Novatek. In August 2021, a London-based NGO conducted an investigation that found gas condensate from Totalʼs Thermokarst field was transported by Russia for processing and then sent as jet fuel to Russian air force bases located near Ukraine. It was about the bases of Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers. "International experts and the government of Ukraine have accused the pilots of these warplanes of indiscriminate bombing of residential areas, including the March 3 strike on Chernihiv, Kyiv region, which killed 47 civilians," Global Witness noted in its investigation.

Representatives of the two companies emphasized that TotalEnergies "contributed to providing the Russian government with the means necessary to commit war crimes." TotalEnergies itself rejected the accusations, calling them "outrageous and defamatory".