The ports along the coast of the Azov Sea, which are under Russian occupation, are being used by Russians for exporting stolen goods from temporarily occupied territories and for military purposes by delivering weapons and equipment.
According to the Center for Transport Strategies, during 2023, the port of the occupied Mariupol processed at least 65 vessels. The total cargo turnover in the port for the 12 months of the previous year amounted to over 142,000 tons of goods, mainly grain and metal products stolen from Ukraine. From Mariupol, the cargoes are transported to three Russian ports and Sevastopol.
As for the routes of illegal cargo exports, the Russians themselves report that vessels from Mariupol go to the ports of Rostov-on-Don, Kavkaz, Azov, and Sevastopol. In the future, they plan to open routes to Yeysk and Novorossiysk.
At the same time, the Russians manage to increase export turnover through the ports of annexed Crimea and the eastern coast of the Black Sea. This has become possible, in part, due to the export of stolen agricultural products from the occupied territories.
There have been reports of such thefts before. In October 2023, a Russian ship named “Matros Shevchenko” left Sevastopol loaded with grain that had been illegally exported from the occupied territories.
In August, another Russian bulk carrier, the “Alfa M,” made at least five illegal visits to the ports of occupied Crimea during the summer, exporting products stolen by the Russians from Ukrainian territories.
Photo: open sources
