Russia Uses Unsanctioned Ships to Transport Grain and Energy Products from Occupied Ukraine

Russia's war against Ukraine is being financed in part through energy exports, but Moscow is also using stolen Ukrainian grain as a tool of influence over other countries, according to Ukraine's Defense Intelligence. The agency published information on 26 ships Russia uses to transport grain from temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, Russian oil and petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas from the Arctic LNG 2 project.

The list includes tankers transporting Russian oil and petroleum products from ports in the Black Sea and Baltic regions, as well as dry cargo vessels carrying agricultural products from occupied Ukrainian territories through the ports of Berdiansk, Sevastopol, Kerch, and Feodosia. The vast majority of these vessels, 18 out of 26, are not sanctioned by any of Ukraine's partner countries.

Among the unsanctioned vessels identified by the agency is the bulk carrier LAMAR S, which repeatedly loaded wheat at the Avlita terminal in Russian-occupied Sevastopol for onward delivery to Syria. The general cargo vessel NAYA FALCON also transported baking soda and granulated wheat bran from Sevastopol to Egypt and Cyprus.

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence stressed that coordinating sanctions and detaining vessels involved in sanctions violations are necessary to restrict Russia's maritime logistics and deprive Moscow of resources used to continue the war. The agency also noted that Russia is building a shadow fleet for liquefied natural gas by buying aging LNG carriers and constructing new vessels ahead of the EU's full ban on Russian LNG imports, which is due to take effect on January 1, 2027.