The Office of the Prosecutor General has ordered the arrest of the vessel PANORMITIS, which is carrying Ukrainian grain
This was announced by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko. The information was also reported by Ukrinform, citing a statement from the Prosecutor General.
The Office of the Prosecutor General has initiated the arrest of the vessel PANORMITIS and its cargo.
According to the investigation, the cargo may be part of a scheme to launder illegally exported Ukrainian grain.
A corresponding request for international legal assistance has already been sent to the competent authorities of the State of Israel.
According to Ruslan Kravchenko, the Ukrainian documents are already in the possession of the Israeli side.
Ukraine is asking its Israeli partners to seize the vessel and its cargo.
The Ukrainian side is also requesting that a search be carried out, that the vessel’s and cargo’s documentation be seized, that grain samples be taken, and that the crew members be questioned.
According to the investigation, the PANORMITIS is transporting grain, some of which was exported from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The cargo was loaded after being transhipped from another vessel.
The PANORMITIS is currently heading for the port of Haifa.
Investigators have documented the vessel’s illegal entry into Ukraine’s closed ports.
The Office of the Prosecutor General describes this as a gross violation of Ukrainian legislation and the norms of international maritime law.
The pre-trial investigation into this case is being conducted by the Main Investigation Department of the SBU.
Prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General are overseeing the proceedings.
According to the OGP, since the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression, over 1.7 million tonnes of agricultural produce have been illegally exported from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The total value of these products exceeds 20 billion hryvnias.
“The era of unpunished looting under foreign flags is over. We continue to systematically identify every offending vessel and work to bring to justice all those involved in war crimes against Ukraine,” Kravchenko stated.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had summoned Israeli Ambassador Michael Brodsky and handed him a note of protest over the arrival in Israel of agricultural products illegally exported by Russia from the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
The Foreign Ministry stated that the origin of such grain had been established, and that the concealment schemes, in particular ‘ship-to-ship’ transhipments in the Black Sea, were known to the competent authorities.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi also reported that this concerns not only Israel and not just two vessels. According to him, Ukraine is aware of several vessels carrying agricultural products illegally exported by Russia from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry noted that the vessels ABINSK and PANORMITIS were used to transport the stolen grain to Israel. The Ukrainian side views such cases not as isolated incidents, but as a systematic practice linked to illegal economic activity in the occupied territories and the circumvention of sanctions.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga, commenting on the enquiry regarding the PANORMITIS, stated that this was “not Twitter diplomacy”, but a legal and diplomatic request for international legal assistance that requires a response.
As reported by ThePublic, Ukraine has handed Israel a note of protest over stolen grain
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