A landmark court judgment. Ukraine will take over a valuable object from Russia

Sweden not only confiscated a ship belonging to the so-called shadow fleet. The district court in Ystad and the appeals court in Malmoe decided that the unit would be transferred to Ukraine.

Sweden confiscated a Russian ship. She gave it to Ukraine

In decisions from June and July this year, Swedish courts agreed with the prosecutor’s office. The latter, at Ukraine’s request, linked the bulk carrier with the illegal export of grain from Russian-occupied Crimea. The peninsula is still part of Ukraine under international law.

Interestingly, in this process the party to the proceedings was not Russia, but the shipping company Caffa Shipping Limited registered in the Seychelles. Even the Swedish Supreme Court did not agree with her, and in this way Ukraine will gain one ship.

“This is a groundbreaking decision, it sets an important precedent,” commented Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha on the 10th. The ship was detained by the Swedish Coast Guard on March 6 this year. It had no charge at that point.

Swedish services then arrested the captain, a Russian citizen, who was allegedly using a false flag. The unit was also accused of poor technical condition. The captain and his 11-person, mostly Russian crew were finally released in April, but the ship was not returned. It was confiscated at the request of Ukraine. It is located in the port of Trelleborg.

What is the Russian Shadow Fleet?

As the New York Times notes, Russia’s shadow fleet consists of hundreds of ships flying foreign flags, including: they supply oil to India and China. Thanks to this, the Kremlin bypasses the sanctions imposed by the West and obtains the means to continue the war. According to experts, these units constitute approximately 10-20 percent. global oil transport network, and the European Union sanctioned approximately 500 ships.