Ukraine calls for additional Russia sanctions as Moscow aims to open occupied seaports to international ships
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Aug. 25 condemned Russian plans to open seaports in occupied territory to international vessels and called on Kyiv's partners to impose "additional tough sanctions" on Moscow.
"Ukraine strongly condemns and considers null and void the order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated August 22, 2025, by which the seaports of the temporarily occupied Ukrainian cities of Berdiansk and Mariupol were included in the list of Russian ports open to foreign vessels," the statement said.
Russia on Aug. 22 ordered ports in the occupied cities of Berdiansk and Mariupol in southern Ukraine to be opened up to international ships.
The Foreign Ministry noted that Russia's plans to use Ukraine's occupied seaports to accept international vessels are a violation of international law, including the U.N. Charter and the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
"Ukraine calls on partners to introduce additional tough sanctions against all Russian individuals and legal entities, foreign companies, in case of their involvement in commercial activities in the seaports of Berdiansk and Mariupol, as well as vessels calling at ports in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," the statement said.
Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast both have ports along southeastern Ukraine's Azov Sea coast.
Ukraine called on the International Maritime Organization to remind member states to comply with its previous resolutions, which establish that Ukraine's occupied ports remain closed, and for member states to take measures against vessels that violate the resolution.
"We are convinced that Russia's gross violation of international law regarding closed ports in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine requires an adequate response from the international community regarding ports on Russian territory, in particular those involved in the functioning of the Russian military machine, and the introduction of tough sanctions against them," the statement said.
Russian ships dock at occupied ports and transport stolen Ukrainian grain to Russia or abroad.
Moscow began grain theft from occupied territories in 2014 when Russia first invaded Ukraine, and continues after the 2022 full-scale invasion.
Russia has resumed stolen grain shipments from within occupied Crimea to Syria, transporting grain from Ukraine's occupied territories, Kateryna Yaresko reported, a journalist with the Ukrainian SeaKrime project that tracks illegal Russian shipping activity.
