Two employees of a Russian private security company were aboard a suspected Russian “shadow fleet” tanker seized by France in September, an informed French source and a lawyer told AFP on Monday. The two men were employed by Moran Security Group, a Russian private security company, and were tasked with monitoring the crew and gathering intelligence, a source with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The source said dozens of vessels of Russia’s “shadow fleet” are equipped with such crew protection teams, notably to escort them in the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean – all supplied by Moran Security. “When they pass near European coasts or military assets, they take photos of our vessels,” the source added. CNN reported in December that Russian personnel based on ships carrying oil had been involved in spying in European waters, citing Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources. The Boracay is thought to be part of a fleet of tankers used to transport Russian oil in violation of sanctions imposed by Western countries over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In September, French authorities boarded the vessel, which claimed to be flagged in Benin, briefly detaining its captain and first mate. The vessel was then allowed to resume its journey. Vladimir Putin condemned the move as “piracy.” On Monday, the Chinese captain of the Boracay, Chen Zhangjie, 39, went on trial in absentia in the city of Brest in western France, with prosecutors demanding he serve a one-year sentence for failing to comply with orders to stop the ship.