The GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in the “Naval Vessels” section of the War&Sanctions portal publishes data on 66 vessels of the shadow fleet of the Russian Federation, Iran, and Venezuela, as well as vessels involved in the theft of Ukrainian grain and the violation of the state border of Ukraine.
Points of attention
- DIU's report exposes 66 vessels of the shadow oil fleet of Russia, Iran, and Venezuela involved in supporting the war against Ukraine by transporting petrodollars.
- The activities of tankers from Cymare Shipmanagement Ltd (Cyprus) and Cymare Navigation FZC (UAE) have been revealed, highlighting their role in facilitating such operations.
War&Sanctions: DIU exposes 66 vessels of the shadow oil fleet of Russia, Iran and Venezuela
In particular, Ukrainian military intelligence reveals the activities of tankers from the network of the Cymare Shipmanagement Ltd (Cyprus) and Cymare Navigation FZC (UAE) groups of companies.
Since 2023, the tanker fleet of the Cymare Shipmanagement Ltd (Cyprus) and Cymare Navigation FZC (UAE) group of companies has been unhinderedly providing Russia with petrodollars to continue the war against Ukraine, under the guise of registering companies in the member states of the European Union.
The top manager of this group, Nikolay Spichenok, a citizen of the United Kingdom, has worked for a long time and continues to work in management positions in the largest state-owned shipping company of the Russian Federation, PJSC Sovcomflot, as well as in related structures.
Recall that PAO Sovcomflot, which is under sanctions by most countries of the sanctions coalition, provides transportation of Russian oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas, cooperating with leading Russian oil and gas companies and traders.
Currently, tankers from the Sovcomflot "orbit", in particular those involved in the transportation of oil and petroleum products from/to Venezuela, are massively changing their flags to Russian ones, effectively confirming their involvement in serving the military and economic interests of the aggressor state.
Previously, such shadow fleet vessels sailed under the flags of third countries in order to avoid sanctions from Western countries.
This trend directly corresponds to the provisions of the Russian Naval Doctrine, which provides:
expansion of the civilian fleet under the flag of the Russian Federation and its use to ensure “national interests” in the World Ocean;
strengthening mobilization readiness in the maritime sector;
Integration of pre-trained civilian vessels and crews into the Russian Armed Forces in wartime.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine separately calls on captains and crews of shadow fleet vessels to avoid cooperation with shadow ship operator companies.
Unscrupulous shadow fleet operators are the first to disappear once a vessel comes to the attention of law enforcement — leaving the sailors alone with the legal, financial, and humanitarian consequences of the crime.
