Ukraine releases data on 100+ vessels, captains tied to sanctioned Russian shipments

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has published data on 139 vessels and 142 captains involved in the transportation of Russian sanctioned oil and stolen Ukrainian grain.

"The Sea Vessels section of the War&Sanctions portal has published a dossier on 139 sea vessels and 142 captains involved in the illegal transportation of Russian and Iranian sanctioned oil, as well as stolen Ukrainian grain from temporarily occupied territories," the GUR said on Telegram on Thursday.

It is noted that currently the Sea Vessels section contains information on over 1,200 vessels, more than half of which are part of the so-called "shadow fleet" of the Russian Federation, as well as data on almost 300 captains who are directly involved in violating the international sanctions regime.

Main items in the new publication are:

1. new shadow tankers, used by the Russian Federation since 2025 to circumvent sanctions control;

2. vessels belonging to the shipping empire of the Iranian oil magnate and the main supplier of weapons to the Russian Federation, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of the former Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani, which ensure the transportation of sanctioned oil;

3. oil tankers from the orbit of the Astrakhan businessman Jamaldin Pashayev, connected with the logistics of the North-South transport corridor, intended for trade with Iran. In addition, Pashayev and his companies are involved in schemes to transfer lethal aid to the Russian company "SEZ "Alabuga ()" with the support of Iran;

4. sea vessels involved in the transportation of stolen Ukrainian grain, which Russia passes off as its own products on the international market;

5. Russian and foreign vessels carrying out illegal activities to ports closed by Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories.

"The export of crude oil, oil products, gas, grain, coal, sulfur and fertilizers is one of the key components of the Russian economy, which provides billions in revenues to the budget of the aggressor country and finances its war against Ukraine," the GUR said.

It is also noted that sea exports from the Baltic and Black Sea regions are a traffic of stolen Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, crude oil and oil products organized by Russia to circumvent the applied sanctions, mostly organized by the Kremlin’s shadow flotilla.