LONDON — France on Saturday intercepted and seized a Russian vessel within the English Channel in keeping with new EU sanctions in opposition to Moscow, in line with a couple of media stories.
The shipment send was once sure for St. Petersburg and was once transporting automobiles, however French sea police redirected the vessel to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
It’s “strongly suspected of being connected to Russian pursuits focused by way of the sanctions,” mentioned Captain Veronique Magnin of the French Maritime Prefecture, in line with Reuters, with stories that the send is owned by way of a Russian businessman who’s at the EU’s record of sanctioned inviduals.
Reviews say that the vessel is named the “Baltic Chief” and the group have been cooperating with the government.
The Russian RIA information company mentioned that the Russian embassy in France had right away contacted the French government for rationalization.