Ukraine to Prosecute Russian Captain for Transporting Stolen Grain
Ukraine filed papers in court at the end of last week seeking to prosecute another Russian captain on charges of transporting grain from the closed port of Sevastopol to Syria. According to the court papers, the captain, Mykola Telagin, age 54, was in command between 2022 and 2024 of a Russian-flagged bulker, Matros Pozynich, notorious for transporting grain that Ukraine asserts is being stolen from Crimea and shipped from the closed port of Sevastopol.
The Security Service of Ukraine assembled the indictment after a long investigation into the actions of the captain and the bulker. They charge that the captain organized and managed the movement of the cargo while being aware of the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. The European Union placed an embargo on the ports of Crimea after the Russian annexation of the region.
The bulker Matros Pozynich (28,351 dwt) was built in 2010 and has been sailing under the Russian flag and ownership since 2022. Tracking operations have spotted the bulker in Sevastopol, Syria, Egypt, and Turkey.
The charges are related to a shipment of 27,000 metric tons of wheat grown in the Donetsk region, currently occupied by Russia, to the Syrian port of Latakia in November 2022. There was a second shipment of 27,300 tons documented in January 2023.
Ukraine asserts the captain managed the entry of the vessel into Sevastopol on these occasions. He also controlled the acceptance of the cargo and managed its transport. They accuse him of representing the cargo as being of Russian origin. In addition, they assert the bulker turned off its AIS transmissions, and at times also displayed “unreliable” or false route information.
While the court papers only highlight these two specific instances, observers report the vessel has continued in this operation. In April of this year, it loaded 27,500 tons of wheat at the Avlita grain terminal in Crimea and proceeded to Latakia. The AIS transmission disguised the shipment as coming from Iskenderun, Turkey.
The bulker has also been reported to have transported cargo from Turkey to Sevastopol. The European Union sanctioned the vessel in December 2025. It has also been sanctioned by Ukraine, Canada, and Switzerland.
Kateryna Yaresko, a journalist for the SeaKrime project of the Myrotvorets Center, reports that Syria is the leading receiver of the grain being exported by Russia from Crimea. The report asserts that ships with grain from Crimea are “constantly being unloaded in the ports of Tartus and Latakia.”
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Ukraine in the past has seized several smaller cargo ships that it asserts have also been involved in the transportation of grain and other materials from Crimea and prosecuted the captains. It also tried earlier this year to have Israel seize a bulker, and it succeeded in getting Sweden to hand over a small cargo ship that was detained earlier this year.
Top photo by Vadik Che from 2025 - courtesy of Vessel Finder
