On 29 April, a joint interagency working meeting dedicated to countering the use of Russia’s “shadow fleet” took place at the Mission. The event was organised by the Mission in cooperation with the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The meeting was joined by representatives of the Contact Point of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, the State Space Agency of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, as well as the NGO “Crimean Centre” / the Crimea Platform Expert Network.

The “shadow fleet” is a network of vessels transporting cargo (primarily petroleum products and grain) to bypass international and national sanctions. Such vessels turn off their AIS signals and falsify port of origin documents, making them impossible to track. This scheme is particularly active in the area of temporarily occupied Crimea, specifically through Kerch.

During the meeting, the participants discussed methods for identifying violating vessels, the available evidentiary base, and mechanisms for its implementation. They agreed on steps to strengthen cooperation in this area.