The Cameroonian-flagged ship is believed to have been working for Russia to transport Ukrainian grain to the Middle East.
Ukraine has seized an international cargo ship it says was carrying Ukrainian grain stolen from Russian-occupied Crimea.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said on Thursday its forces stopped the ship in the Black Sea near Ukraine's Odesa region, seized it and detained its captain.
The Cameroonian-flagged vessel Usko Mfu had been working for Russia in exporting grain to the Middle East, according to the SBU. The ship had repeatedly docked at the Crimean seaport of Sevastopol since last year to pick up several tons of “stolen” products, the statement said.
Sevastopol is a major Russian military center on the Black Sea.
To conceal its movements, the SBU said, the ship regularly turned off its GPS tracker and recorded false travel information.
Its captain, an Azerbaijani citizen, could face up to five years in prison for violating travel restrictions governing Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.
It is unclear whether 12 other foreign crew members, who prosecutors say were also on board the ship when it was seized, will face charges.
“The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime and identify other persons involved in the illegal activity,” the SBU said.
Battle for resources
Russian forces occupied swathes of Ukraine's southern agricultural regions in the first year of their 2022 invasion, and kyiv has accused Russia of stealing and destroying its grain.
Ukraine also blames Russia for withdrawing in 2023 from a United Nations-brokered deal allowing kyiv to safely transport its grain through the Black Sea, causing its food exports to plummet.
Since then, Ukraine has opened new shipping routes, often along the coast, to circumvent Russia's de facto blockade, bringing its grain exports back to near pre-war levels.
In May, the European Union imposed “prohibitive” tariffs on grain imports from Russia in an attempt to cut off revenue to Moscow for its war against Ukraine.
The bloc's trade commissioner said the measure would “tackle illegal Russian exports of grain stolen from Ukraine to EU markets.”
