Russians turn off AIS on ships to take away looted agricultural products

The Navy of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that the Russians are turning off the identification system (AIS) on some of their ships in order to take away looted grain from the territory of Ukraine.

The information was shared by the spokesman of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, captain 3rd rank Dmytro Pletenchuk on the air of the telethon.

“On some of their vessels, the Russians, in order to plunder the occupied territories, take out metal, grain, etc., turn off the identification system, and they are simply not visible at sea. Is it fixed? Yes of course. Are conclusions drawn? Yes, of course,” said Pletenchuk.

The military noted that the main point in this matter is also the use by Russians of ports that are officially closed, and accordingly visiting them, using these ports is prohibited.

“The result is that these Russian vessels are subject to sanctions. These sanctions do not apply only to Ukrainian ports, Russians can receive these sanctions in other ports as well. That’s why they use some ships to directly take looted goods from Mariupol, Berdyansk, reloading it in their official ports, and then take it further with other ships,” said Pletenchuk.

As previously reported by USM, the Russians are “evacuating” ship repair bases from Crimea to the Russian Federation. The reason for this dislocation is the successful strikes of the Defense Forces of Ukraine on military facilities in Crimea.