The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has published data on 42 vessels of Russia’s shadow fleet, a floating storage facility of Lukoil, and those involved in stealing grain and coal from occupied Ukrainian territories on the War\&Sanctions portal.
This was reported by Main Intelligence Directorate on Facebook.
In the “Maritime Vessels” section of the War\&Sanctions portal, information is provided about 42 ships participating in the export of sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil, stolen Ukrainian grain and coal from temporarily occupied territories, as well as in bunkering operations for Russia’s shadow fleet.
Among them is a floating storage unit used by the sanctioned oil company Lukoil in the Caspian Sea to transfer oil to tankers of Russia’s shadow fleet.
“Under sanction and diplomatic pressure, more and more countries are canceling or refusing to register vessels under their flags that are involved in sanction evasion. In response, Russia uses fraudulent schemes: false flags, fake maritime registries with counterfeit websites, and forged registration documents,” Main Intelligence Directorate noted.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), more than 300 ships worldwide operate under false flags and with forged documents.
To counter these abuses, the War\&Sanctions portal has added functionality showing fake vessel registration data. Information has already been published about over 100 Russian and Iranian shadow fleet tankers using false flags from Panama, Malawi, the Comoros, Guinea, Palau, and other countries.
“All such vessels should be fully banned from any operations: servicing, port calls, territorial waters, free economic zones, and international straits. Flag states and the IMO must strengthen control, detect violators, and promptly inform the international community,” Main Intelligence Directorate emphasized.
Currently, the “Maritime Vessels” section of the War\&Sanctions portal contains data on more than 1,000 ships and 155 captains involved in transporting weapons, stolen products from occupied Ukrainian territories, sanction evasion, and other illegal activities.
