Swedish court rules seized ship linked to stolen Ukrainian grain may be handed over to Kyiv
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A Swedish court has ruled that the cargo vessel Caffa, seized after allegedly transporting grain stolen from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, can be handed over to Ukraine, Reuters reported on June 5.
The court found that the vessel's seizure in the Baltic Sea was lawful and that it can be transferred to Ukrainian authorities, prosecutor Hakan Larsson said in a statement.
Larsson added that the ruling must become final before any transfer can take place, and the vessel's owners have three weeks to appeal.
The development follows a June 4 announcement by Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who said a Swedish court had ordered the seizure of the vessel at Kyiv's request.
Swedish police and the coast guard detained the Caffa in March off Sweden's southern coast, saying the vessel was operating under a false Guinean flag and violated maritime safety regulations because it was deemed "unseaworthy."
According to Ukrainian officials, the vessel repeatedly entered and departed Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories while concealing its activities through false registration records.
Vladyslav Vlasiuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky's commissioner for sanctions policy, said the Caffa was previously involved in transporting grain stolen from occupied Ukrainian territories, including a shipment that departed from occupied Crimea's port of Sevastopol in July 2025 and was later unloaded in Syria.
Ukraine has accused Russia of systematically exporting grain from occupied territories, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha saying more than 850,000 metric tons were shipped from occupied Ukrainian regions between January and April 2026.
