Jerusalem, Israel. Ukraine said a vessel carrying grain it alleges was stolen from Russian-occupied areas will not unload in Israel after Kyiv requested Israeli authorities to seize the cargo. Israel said Ukraine’s legal assistance request contained factual gaps and lacked supporting evidence.
Ukraine cites procedural measures and legal cooperation
Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, said on Telegram that the vessel, Panormitis, left Israel’s territorial waters and departed into neutral waters following “a range of procedural measures taken by Ukraine”.
Kravchenko said that based on materials provided by Ukraine within the framework of international legal cooperation, the competent Israeli authorities had begun processing the request.
Israel says request lacked evidence
Israel’s foreign ministry said Ukraine’s request for legal assistance, submitted late on Tuesday, “contained significant factual gaps and did not include any supporting evidence”.
The ministry said it was informed that the vessel, which was supposed to enter the port next week, decided to depart from Israel’s territorial waters.
The manager of the Panama-flagged vessel was not immediately available for comment.
Ukraine calls for broader action on “shadow grain fleet”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram that Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had presented a report calling for “a more systematic” campaign against vessels carrying grain from occupied areas.
“We will systematically act against the shadow grain fleet, in the same way we act against the shadow oil fleet,” Zelenskiy wrote.
Sybiha said earlier on Thursday on X that the vessel would not be unloading in Israel, calling it a “welcome development” and saying it “demonstrates that Ukraine’s legal and diplomatic actions have been effective”.
Sybiha added that Ukraine will continue to track the vessel and warn against any operations with it.
What steps do you think governments should take when asked to seize cargo alleged to have been stolen?
