In the port of Odesa, the SBU arrested a ship working in the interests of the Russian Federation

The foreign vessel was part of the Russian Federation’s “shadow fleet” and was used for the illegal export of Ukrainian agricultural products from occupied Crimea.

According to operational information from the SBU, the vessel was detected in the port of Odesa, where it arrived under the flag of one of the African countries, allegedly to export a batch of steel pipes.

However, as law enforcement officers found out, the vessel called at least seven times to the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, from where it carried out illegal transportation of agricultural products in the interests of the Russian Federation.

In particular, at the end of January 2021, the dry cargo ship exported almost 7 thousand tons of Ukrainian grain from Crimea to North African countries.

The vessel belonged to an owner who is under NSDC sanctions. In order to avoid restrictions, its beneficiaries constantly changed the formal data and names of the vessel, registering them with companies from third countries.

At the time of the arrest, the captain and 16 crew members were on board – all citizens of the Middle East.

During the search, numerous evidence of illegal activities was found: pilot cards, navigation documents, flight plans and communication logs with confirmations of calls to Crimean ports.

The SBU has opened criminal proceedings under four articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular regarding financing of actions aimed at changing the state border, high treason and illegal crossing of temporarily occupied territory.

The vessel itself was arrested and will be transferred to the management of the National Agency for Tracing and Asset Management (ARMA).

The day before, USM reported that 92 tankers of the “shadow fleet” left Russian ports last month.