Paris (France) (AFP) - Two employees of a Russian private security company were on board a tanker suspected of being part of Russia's "stealth fleet" and seized by France in September, a French source and a lawyer told AFP on Monday.
Published on: 02/23/2026 - 14:15
The source, who requested to remain anonymous, said that the two men worked for Moran Security Group and were tasked with monitoring the crew and collecting intelligence information.
The American CNN network reported in December that a number of Russians who were on board ships transporting oil were involved in espionage operations in European waters, according to Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources.
The tanker "Boracay" is believed to be part of a fleet used to transport Russian oil in violation of sanctions imposed by Western countries on Moscow due to the invasion of Ukraine that began four years ago.
The French authorities seized the tanker in September and briefly detained its captain and first mate, before allowing it to resume its journey. The trial of the Chinese captain of the tanker is scheduled to begin Monday in absentia in the city of Brest in western France.
The source confirmed, "There were two Russians on board Boracay," noting that they were 34 and 40 years old.
He pointed out that one of them is a former policeman who previously worked with the Wagner armed group.
Moran Security Group did not respond to AFP's request for comment. Experts say that the company was founded by former officers of the Russian Federal Security Service.
The source reported that the two men were tasked with "ensuring the protection of the ship and, above all, ensuring that the captain strictly adheres to the orders issued in line with Russian interests." They were also assigned to collect "intelligence information."
The tanker "Boracay" was linked to mysterious drone flights over Denmark last year, which included military sites, as part of a series of similar incidents in the airspace of European countries attributed to Russia, which denied any involvement in that.
The Chinese captain's lawyer confirmed that two Russian citizens were on board the ship.
Lawyer Henri de Richemont told AFP that they were from the shipping party "and not members of the naval crew."
He added, "My client has nothing to do with their presence. He was not the one who put the Russians on board his ship."
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© 2026 AFP
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