Captain of the vessel arrested in Reni suspected of exporting agricultural products through occupied Crimea
Kyiv • UNN
The captain of the foreign vessel USKO MFU was served a notice of suspicion of exporting agricultural products through the occupied Crimea. The vessel was detained in the port of Reni, and the captain is suspected of violating the procedure for entering the occupied territory.
The captain of the foreign vessel USKO MFU, arrested in the port of Reni, may be involved in the export of agricultural products through the closed seaports of the temporarily occupied Crimea, he was notified of suspicion. UNN writes about this with reference to the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Details
A suspicion notice was served in absentia to the captain of a foreign vessel USKO MFU, which was exporting agricultural products through the closed seaports of the occupied peninsula.
According to the investigation, in October 2023, a foreign citizen, operating the USKO MFU flying the flag of Cameroon, in violation of Ukrainian legislation and international maritime law, illegally entered the Sevastopol Commercial Sea Port, which was closed by Ukraine. There, the vessel was loaded with more than three thousand tons of agricultural products intended for a Turkish company.
In November 2023, the suspect illegally departed the USKO MFU from the port of Sevastopol. In order to conceal his illegal activities, the captain periodically turned off the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which is a violation of maritime safety, and entered fictitious information about the ship's course.
The suspect is charged with violation of the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine (Part 2 of Article 332-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Recall
In July 2024, the USKO MFU was detained in the waters of the port of Reni, Odesa region. Based on a court order, it was arrested and transferred to the ARMA. The Security Service detained the captain of the vessel, who worked for the aggressor.
