Ship carrying stolen Ukrainian grain fails to unload it in Israeli port and sails to neutral waters - PGO

The PANORMITIS, carrying stolen Ukrainian grain, has left Israeli territorial waters and entered neutral waters.

It was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office, according to the Ukrainian News agency.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, this action thwarted russia’s attempt to legalize grain illegally exported from Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.

After Ukraine took a series of procedural measures, the PANORMITIS left Israeli territorial waters and moved into neutral waters.

Such behavior may indicate an awareness of the risk of measures being applied to the vessel and its cargo to secure criminal proceedings, in particular seizure.

Based on materials provided by the Ukrainian side within the framework of international legal cooperation, the competent Israeli authorities have begun executing the request. The fact of the offense has been recorded at the international level.

Consequently, the further movement of the vessel, the cargo, and the actions of persons involved in this scheme will remain subject to legal action in any jurisdiction that recognizes the rule of law and respects Ukraine’s sovereignty.

The vessel’s departure into neutral waters does not halt criminal proceedings and does not exempt the individuals involved from liability. Ukraine continues its procedural work, monitors the movements of all russian vessels, and will utilize all available mechanisms of international legal cooperation to seize assets, identify all participants in the scheme, and hold them accountable.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Ukraine sent a request to Israel to seize a russian vessel carrying stolen Ukrainian grain. On April 28, Barak Ravid, a journalist for the American publication Axios, stated that the Panormitis had entered the Israeli port of Haifa with a cargo of grain stolen from the occupied territories of Ukraine.