French Authorities Seize Yacht Believed to Be Owned by Rosneft's Igor Sechin

Igor Sechin, the head of the Russian state-run energy company Rosneft, is among those sanctioned by the United States over Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that the country's authorities have seized a yacht that they say is linked to Igor Sechin.

"A yacht belonging to a Russian oligarch has been seized", Le Maire said on his Twitter account, attaching a statement from the French Ministry of Economy. "Thank you to the French customs officers who enforce the sanctions of the European Union against those close to the Russian authorities".

According to the statement, French customs seized the yacht "Amore Vero" in La Ciotat - a commune in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. The yacht was seized as part of the EU sanctions against Russia imposed in the wake of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.

French authorities say they seized the vessel overnight between 2 and 3 March. They also said the yacht is owned by a company that Igor Sechin, Rosneft's director, has been identified as the main shareholder.

It was said that the yacht had arrived in La Ciotat on 3 January and was set to remain there until 1 April for repairs.

The check of the 280-foot yacht took several hours. According to the French authorities, the yacht was preparting to cast off before the check - a move that was deemed as an attempt to breach the western sanctions imposed on Sechin and many other Russian people and entities.

The US and the EU slapped sanctions on Russia in the wake of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. Among those on the US sanctions list, aside from Sechin, are Russia's Sergei Ivanov, Nikolai Patrushev, and their adult children.

"The following designations target influential Russians in [President Vladimir] Putin's inner circle and in elite positions of power within the Russian state", a statement by the US Department of the Treasury said.

Amid the wave of anti-Russian sanctions, several countries in the West said they are considering seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs. Le Maire said that the French authorities are seeking to seize all of the assets of those under EU sanctions. The United Kingdom, according to the Financial Times, is also planning to seize the property of the sanctioned oligarchs. The United States has since launched a new task force called KleptoCapture aimed at tracing and seizing the assets of those under anti-Russian sanctions.