The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has submitted a package of documents to the Israeli authorities requesting the arrest of the Russian ship PANORMITIS, which is transporting grain likely taken from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. This was reported by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
This is reported by Finway
Details of the PANORMITIS case
According to Ukrainian investigators, the PANORMITIS ship is transporting agricultural products, part of which was illegally exported from territories of Ukraine that are under temporary Russian occupation. The grain was loaded after transshipment from another vessel, and the PANORMITIS is currently heading to the Israeli port of Haifa.
Kravchenko emphasized that the ship illegally entered closed Ukrainian ports, which is a gross violation of both Ukrainian and international maritime law. The Main Investigative Department of the Security Service of Ukraine is conducting a pre-trial investigation into this case under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
“Today our documents are already there. The Ukrainian side is asking our Israeli partners to arrest the ship and its cargo, conduct a search, seize the ship and cargo documentation, take grain samples, and interrogate the crew members.”
Reactions from Ukrainian and Israeli officials
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha noted that Ukraine has officially appealed to Israel through diplomatic and legal channels, demanding action regarding the PANORMITIS ship. He emphasized that this is not just a public statement, but a specific legal request for international legal assistance, for which a serious response is expected from the Israeli side, rather than an emotional reaction.
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, several batches of agricultural products illegally exported by Russia from occupied Ukrainian lands have already been delivered to Israel. Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression by the Russian Federation, over 1.7 million tons of agricultural products worth more than 20 billion hryvnias have been exported through such schemes.
On April 27, in response to information about Israel accepting a second ship with stolen Ukrainian grain, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated that the Israeli ambassador had been summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on social media platform X that “diplomatic relations, especially between friendly nations, are not conducted on Twitter or in the media.”
The Ukrainian side insists that the time for impunity in the use of foreign flags for looting has ended, and law enforcement continues to identify every violation and work towards holding those responsible accountable for war crimes against Ukraine.