For the first time in Ukraine, the captain of a Russian ship was declared of suspicion of a war crime for exporting stolen grain

For the first time in Ukraine, the captain of a Russian ship has been charged with a war crime for transporting stolen Ukrainian grain from Crimea.

This was reported by Acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalsky and the press service of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office (PGO).

According to the investigation, in November 2022 and January 2023, the captain twice took the vessel “Matros Pozynich” to the closed port of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea.

There, Ukrainian wheat was loaded on board, which, according to the investigation, was illegally seized by Russian occupation forces. In total, 54 374 tons of grain were exported from Ukraine in two flights. It was transported to the port of Latakia in Syria under the guise of products of Russian origin.

The investigation also claims that the captain periodically turned off the AIS automatic identification system and transmitted false data about the vesselʼs location to hide the fact that it was entering occupied Crimea.

He was informed in absentia of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war, as well as of illegal entry into the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.

The Acting Prosecutor General Kovalsky noted that this case could become important for further practice: not only those who directly appropriate property in the occupied territory, but also those who knowingly help to export it or hide its true origin can be held accountable.

• Today, Ukrainian law enforcement officers also declared suspicions to two officials of an Odesa enterprise. According to the investigation, they helped pass off almost 8 000 tons of grain from occupied Mariupol worth UAH 60 million as Russian.

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