Cargo ship captain arrested for smuggling Ukrainian grain from Crimea

The Security Service of Ukraine has detained a cargo ship and its captain off Odesa for allegedly exporting stolen Ukrainian grain.

According to the Security Service, the unnamed vessel was sailing under the flag of a Central African country and the crew was ordered by Russia to export Ukrainian grain from the occupied Crimea Peninsula.

The investigation claimed that the ship repeatedly docked in Sevastopol during 2023 and 2024 to take on stolen agricultural products. Following loading, the vessel transported cargo to the Middle East for sale. The captain allegedly turned off the vessel’s GPS tracker periodically and falsified docking log entries to mask what the vessel was doing.

The Security Service stated that the captain aided in exporting ‘multi-ton batches’ of Ukrainian grain from occupied Ukrainian regions. The captain, although not named, was described as a citizen of a South Caucasus country. Aside from the captain, there were 12 other crew members on board.

During the search of the vessel, the Security Service claimed that it found documents, navigation equipment, and other material evidence of criminal activity.

Based on what was discovered the captain was detained under suspicion of violating the procedure for entry into and exit from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. If the accusations stick, he will face up to five years in prison. As per the regulations of such criminal proceedings, the vessel and the captain were towed to Odesa and arrested.