According to the high-ranking official, the ship’s release and subsequent departure from French territory occurred after the payment of a hefty fine.

“Breaking European sanctions comes at a price. Russia will no longer finance its war with impunity using a ghost fleet along our coasts,” Barrot wrote on his Twitter account, specifying that the “Grinch” was detained for three weeks in Fos-sur-Mer.

On January 22, President Emmanuel Macron had announced the boarding of the tanker in the Mediterranean, which he described as being “under international sanctions.”

He also said the vessel was sailing under a false flag and that the military operation was conducted in strict accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The French Maritime Prefecture then announced that the tanker had departed from the Russian port of Murmansk.

The West has imposed sanctions on Russia related to the sale of its hydrocarbons and accuses Moscow of using a “phantom fleet” to circumvent them and finance the war in Ukraine.

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