Ukraine’s SBU security agency says it has detained an unidentified foreign cargo ship in the Black Sea and is holding its captain. The SBU statement said the ship, which flew the flag of a Central African country, was illegally exporting agricultural products from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea for sale in the Middle East. The captain was identified only as a national of a South Caucasus country. Kyiv alleges that Russia has been illegally exporting Ukrainian agricultural products since shortly after its February 2022 full-scale invasion. As of November 2023, Kyiv says, Russia had exported about $1 billion worth of looted goods. Moscow denies stealing Ukrainian grain. To read the complete story by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, click here.
Ukraine Impounds Cargo Ship Accused Of Exporting Crimea Grain
A Ukrainian coast guard during a Black Sea patrol in February