In Odesa, the Security Service of Ukraine has detained and seized a foreign ship that was part of russia’s shadow fleet and illegally transported Ukrainian agricultural products from the temporarily occupied Crimea.

According to the investigation, the vessel’s owner was under sanctions imposed by the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine and has repeatedly changed the ship’s name and formal third country beneficiaries to circumvent the restrictive measures.

The SSU uncovered the russian-controlled dry cargo ship in the commercial port of Odesa, where it arrived under the flag of an African country to export a batch of steel pipes.

It has been established that prior to the full-scale war the ship had docked in Sevastopol at least seven times to illegally export agricultural products for russia’s benefit.

At the end of January 2021, the dry cargo vessel unlawfully exported almost 7,000 tons of grain from the Crimea to North Africa.

Sixteen crew members – all citizens of several Middle Eastern countries – were on board during the impounding.

Trip plans, pilot cards, cartographic materials, and radio communication logs were found during the search. These documents provide evidence of illegal entries into the ports of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Investigators of the Security Service have initiated criminal proceedings under four Articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• 110-2.3 (financing of actions aimed at forcibly changing or overthrowing constitutional order or seizing state power, altering the territory or state border of Ukraine);
• 111.1 (high treason);
• 291 (violation of applicable transport rules);
• 332-1.2, 332-1.3 (violation of the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine).

As part of the SSU’s investigation, the vessel has been seized and will be transferred to ARMA (the National Agency of Ukraine for Identification, Search, and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes).

Operational and investigative activities were carried out by the SSU Offices in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Odesa region jointly with the State Border Guard Service under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office.