Marine Vessels

The vessel has been implicated in multiple grain theft schemes involving the export of Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied port of Mariupol (TOT Ukraine). It was recorded in russian state propaganda footage from the temporarily occupied port of Mariupol during the loading of grain onto several russian vessels: STK-1003 (IMO 8326058), STK-1016 (IMO 8521880), and Mezhdurechensk (IMO 8948167).
The vessel is owned by the russian company Remote Marine Terminal LLC (ООО "Удалённый морской терминал", TIN 7810707496).
Grain was loaded onto the russian vessels by several companies:
– Santrade LLC (formerly Sanagro LLC, TIN 6168119060, Rostov-on-Don), specialising in the wholesale trade of grain, unprocessed tobacco, seeds, and animal feed. In 2023, the company loaded Ukrainian wheat onto all three vessels. The founder of Santrade LLC, M.Y. Mishchuk, is also the founder of three other companies registered in the TOT of Donetsk region and trading in agricultural crops (mainly grain): AF Agroservice LLC (TIN 9306001978), Aleksandrovskoye LLC (TIN 9312009862), and Donagroalliance LLC (TIN 9309020224), as well as a metallurgical enterprise – Donetsk Foundry LLC (TIN 9308024353).
– Zorka Food LLC (TIN 9721152398, Moscow), specialising in the wholesale trade of food products, grain, and related goods.
– Asta Group LLC (TIN 9303017257, TOT Donetsk), specialising in the wholesale trade of grain, unprocessed tobacco, seeds, and animal feed. The founder of Asta Group LLC, R.N. Asatryan, also owns Farm Agro-Soyuz LLC (TIN 9500011198, TOT Kherson region), which specialises in growing cereals (except rice), legumes, and oilseeds; and Complex Supply Don LLC (TIN 6166085722, Rostov-on-Don), which manufactures vehicle bodies and conducts non-specialised trade.
The vessel has also been implicated in grain theft schemes involving the removal of Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied port of Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia region, in December 2023.

The vessel has been implicated in grain theft schemes involving the Avlita grain terminal in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol (temporarily occupied territory – TOT of Crimea, Ukraine) in July and August 2022, with the stolen grain transshipped to the russian Port Kavkaz, as well as from the port of Kerch (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine).
A Ukrainian court served the vessel’s captain with a notice of suspicion. The captain made seven port calls at the closed commercial seaports of Sevastopol and Kerch (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine) to load looted Ukrainian grain, periodically disabling the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and entering false course data to indicate alleged voyages to russian ports rather than to the closed ports of TOT of Crimea, Ukraine.
The Turkish agricultural company Bek Tarim, the russian company Fast LLC (ООО "Фаст", TIN 2376000774), and Petrokhleb-Kuban LLC (ООО "Петрохлеб-Кубань", TIN 2310109650) have been involved in the vessel’s grain export activities. The vessel is managed by Kuban Marine Company LLC (ООО "Кубанская морская компания", TIN 2310213041), a russian company affiliated with Petrokhleb-Kuban LLC. Kuban Marine Company LLC operates three other vessels engaged in illegal voyages to closed ports of TOT of Crimea, Ukraine.
The vessel has also been involved in smuggling ilmenite—while AIS was disabled—for the Crimean Titan (АО "Крымский титан") plant, seized in TOT of Crimea, Ukraine, through ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in the Black Sea for delivery to the port of Kerch (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine).
The vessel has been in violation of Ukrainian legislation and the so-called "Crimean sanctions" since 2015, having made numerous port calls at Kerch (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine) since that year, including for raid transshipments in the Kerch Strait.
On November 25, 2025, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the vessel.

The vessel has been implicated in a grain theft scheme involving the export of stolen Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied territory (TOT) of Crimea, Ukraine, to Turkey, by reloading in a russian port grain previously exported from the TOT of Crimea, Ukraine, by the vessel Akubens (IMO 8891364).
On 2 July 2023, Sword Lion arrived in the Kerch Strait from Port Karadeniz Ereğli (Turkey) with a draft of 6 metres and remained there until 27 July 2023. It then increased its draft to 9.6 metres and proceeded to the outer anchorage of Port Haifa (Israel). The declared recipient of the agricultural cargo was the Israeli company ADM Industries Centers Ltd (Beit Dagan). According to the company’s official records, Sword Lion delivered a shipment of barley labelled as having European origin — a claim that was false.
The vessel arrived at Haifa’s outer anchorage on 3 August 2023 but did not enter the port, likely due to the public disclosure of the grain theft scheme. Between 9 and 10 August 2023, the vessel sailed to the coast of Cyprus and anchored at the outer roads of Port Famagusta, remaining there until 15 August 2023 without entering port, likely for the same reasons. It subsequently proceeded to the anchorage of Port Iskenderun (Turkey), where, after six days at anchor with AIS disabled, it entered the port and discharged the grain at a berth operated by a subsidiary of the russian Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant.
In 2025, the vessel calls at ports in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The vessel has been implicated in grain theft schemes involving the export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Sevastopol and Kerch (temporarily occupied territory – TOT of Crimea, Ukraine), with its AIS (Automatic Identification System) signal disabled, and in its further export, including to the russian Port Kavkaz for transshipment, the Turkish port of Samsun, and from the temporarily occupied port of Berdiansk in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
In 2019– 2020, the vessel was also involved in schemes to deliver Ukrainian ilmenite concentrate to TOT of Crimea, Ukraine for the Ukrainian titanium plant Krymskiy Titan, which was seized by russia. The concentrate was shipped from Odesa (Ukraine) to Turkey, where it was transshipped onto a vessel that delivered it, with its AIS signal disabled, to the port of Komysh-Burun (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine).
On November 25, 2025, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the vessel.

The vessel has been implicated in grain theft schemes involving the removal of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Sevastopol, Feodosia, and Kerch (temporarily occupied territory – TOT of Crimea, Ukraine) with the Automatic Identification System (AIS) disabled, and its subsequent delivery to Turkey and the russian Port Kavkaz. In particular, between 4 and 6 January 2024, the vessel loaded 3,000 tons of wheat at a grain terminal in temporarily occupied Sevastopol and then delivered it to the anchorage of Port Kavkaz for a bulk carrier bound for Indonesia.
The vessel has also been involved in the delivery of Turkish construction mixtures to TOT of Crimea, Ukraine.
A Ukrainian court has served a notice of suspicion to the vessel’s captain and ordered the arrest of the vessel in absentia.
On 18– 19 June 2025, the vessel was moored at berth 21 of the Avlita grain terminal in Sevastopol Bay. On 19 June 2025, the vessel departed from the port of Sevastopol, Sevastopol Bay.

The vessel has been allegedly implicated in a grain theft scheme involving shipments from the temporarily occupied territory (TOT) of Ukraine.
Between 22 and 26 September 2023, after approaching the Kerch Strait in the Black Sea, the vessel disabled its Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder and proceeded towards the Sea of Azov, where it docked with the vessel IMO 8326058 to load grain of Ukrainian origin exported from the temporarily occupied port of Mariupol. The vessel IMO 9085443 then proceeded to deliver the cargo to Port Tripoli (Lebanon).
There are indications of links between this vessel and russian or russia-related entities through its management. The commercial manager of the vessel IMO 9085443 is Romarine Europe Ltd, a company registered in Liberia with an office in Greece (1st Floor, 11, Agiou Spyridonos Street, 185 35, Piraeus). Romarine Europe Ltd also operates another vessel, IMO 8418356, which has repeatedly called at seaports in the TOT of Crimea, Ukraine, in violation of Ukrainian legislation.
In August 2019, the vessel IMO 8418356 was moored at the grain terminal of the stevedoring company Avlita in the closed Port Sevastopol, where it was loaded before sailing to Libya. IMO 8418356 has also been implicated in grain exports from Port Sevastopol (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine) to Syria with AIS disabled, the delivery of ilmenite to Port Feodosia (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine), and grain exports from Ports Kerch and Sevastopol to Greece.

The vessel has been implicated in transporting Ukrainian coal and grain from the temporarily occupied territory (TOT) of Ukraine and has made port calls at ports in the TOT of Ukraine. On 4 June 2024, the vessel was present in the temporarily occupied closed port of Sevastopol, with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) disabled during the port call.
During 2024–2025, the vessel transported more than 20,000 tons of coking coal from the temporarily occupied Ukrainian port of Mariupol, including shipments to Turkey, using the following scheme: it officially called at the russian port of Temryuk; disabled AIS; proceeded to the port of Mariupol for loading; returned to Temryuk with cargo; reactivated AIS; and then sailed to the final port of destination.
The vessel is owned and operated by Nika Shipping LLC (ООО "Ника Шиппинг", TIN 9303032939), a company established under russian law in April 2023 and originally registered in the TOT of Donetsk region (city of Donetsk) at the same address as another russian company, Nika Trade Invest LLC (ООО "Ника Трейд Инвест", TIN 9303023317). In 2025, Nika Shipping LLC was re-registered at an address in Moscow. Nika Trade Invest LLC specialises in the extraction of minerals and kaolin, as well as coal enrichment. Information on the company’s director and founders is not publicly disclosed, which may indicate their involvement in fulfilling the russian state defence order. By the end of 2024, Nika Trade Invest LLC’s revenue had increased by almost 80% to RUB 1.6 billion. In March 2024, the company became a resident of the russian federation’s free economic zone as a kaolin enrichment enterprise and was granted access to the unique "Bila Balka" deposit located near the temporarily occupied city of Volnovakha.
Nika Trade Invest LLC is affiliated with Lyudmila Gurova (TIN 616103297808), the majority beneficiary of another russian company, Roboavia LLC (ООО "Робоавиа", TIN 9102166435, under Ukrainian sanctions), which develops and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Rostov region of the russian federation. In 2023, Roboavia LLC signed an agreement with the Rostov regional authorities to implement an investment project. The company is constructing a plant in the city with the aim of producing 1,100 drones annually. In September 2023, Roboavia LLC also became a resident of the "Era" Military Innovation Complex — a project of the russian Ministry of Defence for the development of advanced weapons.
Technical management of the vessel is carried out by Krechet LLC (ООО "Кречет", Rostov region, TIN 6167197524). The company’s former director, Oleksandr Soldatov (TIN 614104187473), has been serving since 27 July 2023 as the head of the occupation Administration of the Mariupol Seaport (Администрация морского порта Мариуполь, TIN 9310000303). Krechet LLC also manages three other vessels (IMO 1041348, IMO 9419084, IMO 9454125) engaged in exporting Ukrainian coal from the temporarily occupied port of Mariupol.

The vessel is involved in the export of Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, in particular from the port of Sevastopol.
The vessel makes port calls at terminals in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Crimea, Ukraine, in particular, delivering cargo from Turkey. On 20 April 2024, it entered the temporarily occupied port of Sevastopol, mooring at berth 20 of Avlita (opposite the grain terminal) at coordinates 33.5496, 44.6256. The vessel had arrived from the Turkish port of Bartin, where it was loaded between 14 and 17 April 2024. Its AIS signal was switched off between 17 and 26 April 2024. This direct voyage from Turkey with cargo to the TOT of Crimea, Ukraine, constitutes a violation of Turkish Circular 635/2017 and International Maritime Organization Resolution 1183.
On November 25, 2025, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the vessel.

The vessel is involved in the theft of Ukrainian grain from the TOT of Ukraine (from the ports of Sevastopol and Berdiansk) and its transportation to third countries.
On 23 April 2024, the vessel switched off its AIS off the Turkish coast, and entered the temporarily occupied Sevastopol on 25 April 2024, where it was moored at berth 20. On 29 April 2024, the vessel was moved to berth 21 for loading at the Avlita grain terminal (listed in russian registers as Aval). ‘Sofia' left the port of Sevastopol loaded with wheat on 02 May 2024, according to the documents, the grain was registered for delivery to Bangladesh, the port of destination was indicated as Caucasus in the schedule of movement through the closed port of Sevastopol, the ship's captain was Sergey Ryzhov.
The vessel also made three calls to the closed port of Sevastopol in July 2024 with the AIS switched off, loading and exporting more than 18,000 tonnes of barley from the TOT of Crimea.
On November 18, 2024, the vessel was in Sevastopol Bay, moored to the port side to the bulk carrier Neptune at berth 20 of Dokova Bay. On November 26, 2024, the vessel was moved to berth 19.
In May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2024, the vessel was involved in the transportation of barley and wheat from the temporarily occupied port of Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia region, in particular to Egypt and Libya.
In January 2025, the vessel called at the port of Sevastopol three times (21 berths of the Avlita grain terminal) and departed loaded with wheat.
In February and March 2025, the vessel was involved in the transportation of grain from the temporarily occupied port of Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia region.
On April 02-09, 2025, the vessel was in Sevastopol Bay on loading wheat at berth 21 of the Avlita grain terminal.
In the period of April 16-18, 2025, the vessel was in Sevastopol Bay on loading wheat at berth 21 of the Avlita grain terminal with AIS turned off. On April 18, the vessel left Sevastopol Bay and sailed to the port of Kavkaz loaded with wheat.
On June 08-13, 2025, the vessel was in Sevastopol Bay, Dokova Bay, to load grain. On June 13, 2025, the vessel left Sevastopol Bay loaded with wheat and sailed to the port of Kerch.
On June 16-18, 22-25, 2025, the vessel was in Sevastopol Bay for loading grain at berth 21 of the Avlita grain terminal. On June 18 and 25, 2025, respectively, the vessel left Sevastopol Bay loaded with wheat.
On November 25, 2025, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the vessel.

The vessel has been implicated in grain theft schemes involving the export of Ukrainian grainfrom ports in the temporarily occupied territory (TOT) of Crimea (Ukraine), with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) disabled. In particular, in December 2023, the vessel transported Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied port of Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia region.
Between 22– 23 March and 2– 5 April 2024, the vessel was present in the port of Sevastopol with AIS disabled. On 23 March 2024, the vessel departed Sevastopol loaded with wheat, declaring the Port Kavkaz (russia) as its destination. On 5 April 2024, it again departed Sevastopol with wheat on board.
Since 2022, the vessel has also been operating on the Bronka– Kaliningrad ferry route, connecting the Leningrad and Kaliningrad regions of russia.

The vessel has been implicated in grain theft schemes involving shipments from the port of Sevastopol (temporarily occupied territory – TOT of Crimea, Ukraine) with the Automatic Identification System (AIS) disabled, as well as from the temporarily occupied port of Berdiansk in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
In March– April 2024, the vessel was observed in Sevastopol between 15 and 22 March, and in Komyshov Bay between 31 March and 4 April with AIS disabled. On 4 April, it departed Sevastopol loaded with sunflower meal and bran.
Since 2022, the vessel has been operating on the Bronka– Kaliningrad ferry route, connecting the Leningrad and Kaliningrad regions of russia.

The vessel is involved in the theft of Ukrainian grain from the port of Sevastopol (TOT Crimea, Ukraine) with AIS disabled.
In particular, the vessel was at the berth of Dokova Bay on 13 March 2024 loading grain, and between 31 March and 04 April 2024 with AIS switched off. On 04 April, the vessel left the port of Sevastopol loaded with grain (barley) and headed for a transshipment area in the Kerch Strait.
The vessel systematically calls at the ports of the TOT of Crimea of Ukraine.