Intelligence: Georgian citizen involved in transactions with sanctioned Russian oil
18.04.2025 - 15:14
Intelligence has identified the captain of the sanctioned vessel “Facca”, which is transporting Russian oil.
In the process of searching for persons involved in transactions with sanctioned Russian oil, Georgian citizen Gheorghe Devadze came into view, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reports.
The agency established that he graduated from the Batumi State Maritime Academy with a degree in ship navigation. He has experience working on Handymax and Panamax class tankers since 2012.
It is known that as of April 5, 2025, Devadze was the captain of the vessel “Facca” (IMO:9271951), which is under sanctions by the EU, the UK, Canada and Switzerland as a vessel involved in the transportation of Russian oil.
“”Facca” is usually located in the Kerch Strait area. As can be seen from the available photos, the vessel is quite worn out, creating the risk of another oil leak like the accident of the tankers “Volgoneft-212” and “Volgoneft-239″. This is typical behavior for the Russian Federation: to deliberately operate damaged vessels, creating a precedent for a large-scale environmental disaster at sea. The age of this vessel is already a violation of the rules for the safe operation of tankers: this is an argument in favor of additional sanctions,” the intelligence service noted.
In particular, they recorded the spoofing of the vessel in the Russian maritime area near Anapa, as well as in the water area of the temporarily occupied Crimea near Kerch and Feodosia.
As of April 15, the vessel is near Novorossiysk, where Russia regularly performs STS operations, in which the Facca vessel may also be involved.
“All those who help Putin earn money by selling ‘bloody oil’ will be identified, and the personal and official data of such individuals will be made public,” the Foreign Intelligence Service emphasized. As previously reported by USM, after the “Volgoneft” tanker accident in December 2024, seven more similar vessels followed the same route.
