Ukraine strikes back at Russia's shadow fleet: illegal ship seized

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that it had seized a foreign cargo ship, part of Russia's "shadow fleet", in the Black Sea. This was reported by the organization's press service.

The special operation was carried out in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine and the country's border troops in the internal waters of the Black Sea. However, there is no exact information about when the ship was seized.

According to investigators, this ship was transporting 5 thousand tons of wheat illegally exported from the occupied territories of southern Ukraine from the port of Sevastopol in late 2024. The cargo ship is said to have flown under the flag of an Asian country and made the voyage in secret.

According to the Ukrainian security service, during a search of the ship, various documents, navigation equipment and other evidence were found, confirming that Russian forces had taken agricultural products from Ukraine.

For your information: the “shadow fleet” refers to old and secret cargo tankers that turn off their beacons in order to avoid detection by international surveillance systems. Such tankers are mainly operated by the Russian state corporation Sovcomflot. Following the imposition of sanctions by Western countries, Russia began using such a secret fleet in late 2022 to sell its oil products at prices above the established prices.

According to The Guardian, Russia's shadow fleet currently numbers about 600 ships, accounting for 70 percent of the country's oil exports.

Ukraine's security service sees the seizure as a major step toward ensuring the country's economic security and blocking Russia's illegal trade routes. The incident is expected to have a major international impact. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!