- Category
- Latest news
Ukraine Seizes Shadow-Fleet Ship in Odesa Used to Smuggle Grain From Occupied Crimea
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has identified and seized a foreign vessel that was part of Russia's “shadow fleet”, illegally transporting Ukrainian agricultural products from the temporarily occupied Crimea.
According to the investigation, unveiled on December 10, the ship's owner, who was under the sanctions of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, had regularly changed the vessel's name and its official beneficiaries from third-party countries to bypass restrictions.
Every article pushes back against disinformation. Your support keeps our team in the field.
The SBU also discovered the ship at the Odesa commercial port, where it had arrived under the flag of an African country to transport a batch of steel pipes.
As reported by the service, prior to Russia's full-scale invasion, this ship had made several trips to Sevastopol, transporting Ukrainian grain on behalf of Russia. In late January 2021, the ship illegally exported nearly 7,000 tons of grain from the peninsula to North Africa.
At the time of the ship's seizure, the captain and 16 crew members, all citizens of several Middle Eastern countries, were on board. During the search, the SBU discovered voyage plans, navigational charts, and evidence of illegal entry into ports on temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
As a result of these violations, the SBU has opened a criminal case under multiple articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, including state treason and violations of entry procedures for the occupied territories.
Earlier, it was reported that two Russian tankers involved in bypassing international sanctions on oil exports were reportedly disabled in a joint operation by the SBU and Ukraine's Navy.
On November 28 and 29, maritime drones targeted two sanctioned tankers—Kairo and Virat—during separate strikes in the Black Sea. The SBU source confirmed that both vessels sustained severe damage and are no longer operational.
-457ad7ae19a951ebdca94e9b6bf6309d.png)
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
-f47a0141772585fb8e347724d2d001e9.png "Cooper drone from POLIFLY. (Source: POLIFLY)")
