Ukraine/Russia: 2 NGOs file complaint in France against TotalEnergies for "complicity in war crimes"; company refutes allegations
"France’s TotalEnergies faces legal case for allegedly fuelling Russian bombers", 14 Oct 2022
The France-based Darwin Climax Coalition and Ukrainian group Razom We Stand handed the file to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor, who investigates war crime allegations...
The two NGOs accuse the French energy giant of exploiting a gas field used to manufacture kerosene used by Russian planes in their bombings in Ukraine, particularly in the March 16, 2022 strike on a Mariupol theatre sheltering civilians which killed around 600...
TotalEnergies rejected the accusations, calling them calling them "outrageous and defamatory"...
Representatives of Razom We Stand and Darwin Climax Coalitions confirmed...that they have filed a complaint against TotalEnergies, alleging that the company "contributed to providing the Russian government with the means necessary for the commission of war crimes"...
Following the publication of a Le Monde report on the Global Witness investigation, TotalEnergies said it had on July 18 sold its 49% share in Terneftegaz to Novatek...
In its statement to Le Monde refuting the allegations, TotalEnergies added that unstable condensates produced by Terneftegaz had been "exported abroad" and therefore could not have been used by the Russian army as fuel for its planes.
Lawyers from the two NGOs told AFP it was time for multinationals to be held to account.