A complaint for "complicity in war crimes" in Ukraine was filed against TotalEnergies on Thursday, October 14, by the Ukrainian association Razom We Stand and the French association Darwin Climax Coalitions. The two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accuse the French oil giant of having operated a gas field that manufactures kerosene used by Russian planes in their bombings in Ukraine, particularly in Mariupol where attacks caused the death of approximately 600 people.
Razom We Stand and Darwin Climax Coalitions claim that TotalEnergies "provided the means for the Russian government to commit war crimes." "Fellow Ukrainians are bombed daily by the Russian army," says Svitlana Romanko, director of Razom We Stand. "By filing this complaint, we hope to show the link between TotalEnergies and this war."
TotalEnergies told to Le Monde that these accusations were "outrageous and defamatory." "To be an accomplice to war crimes is to provide direct aid to a country or criminal organization that is the perpetrator of crimes," they said. "We conduct all operations in strict compliance with EU policies and European sanctions. The accusations against our company are unfounded."
'Legal risks'
The complaint was made following an article published in August by Le Monde and the NGO Global Witness. The article revealed that TotalEnergies was a 49% shareholder in the Termokarstovoye gas field in Siberia. The gas condensate produced there is stabilized in a processing plant that supplies an oil refinery, which in turn sells kerosene to the Russian Air Force. It also supplies two military bases in Morozovskaya and Malchevo that have combat aircraft. The airborne units have been accused by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch of striking civilians in Ukraine.
"We warned TotalEnergies in as early as March 2022 of the legal risks they would face if they decided to continue their activities, including complicity in the crimes perpetrated by the Russian regime," noted Clara Gonzales, a lawyer at Greenpeace France. "We support a full investigation to shed light on the facts, in particular regarding the supply of fuel to the Russian Air Force."
The French company had initially denied any operational responsibility in supply chain and gas field operations. A few days later, they claimed that its condensate was only intended for export. It would have been processed in the same plant that destines products for the Russian Air Force, but separately. By the end of August, TotalEnergies had announced they had relinquished their shares of the Termokarstovoye gas field in an agreement dated July 18, prior to when the revelatory article was published.
440 million euros in profit
The French company has expressed "its strongest condemnation of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine," but despite relinquishing shares in the Termokarstovoye gas field, its strong presence in the country remains. TotalEnergies own 19.4% of Novatek, Russia's second-largest natural gas producer, and Novatek owns the condensate processing plant supplying the Omsk refinery which sells kerosene to Russian military air bases.
In September, TotalEnergies issued a payment of 2.27 billion euros in dividends to its shareholders from profits recorded in the first half of 2022, a profit of 440 million euros. Novatek's main shareholder, Gennady Timchenko, owns 23% and is an old acquaintance of Vladimir Putin. He had been added to the list of European and British sanctions since the invasion of Ukraine; he was already targeted by US sanctions since 2014.
"A thorough legal investigation is necessary," said Philippe Barre, President of Darwin Climate Coalitions. "The power of TotalEnergies should not prevent us from knowing the truth, especially when it comes to horrors such as those taking place in Ukraine."