Sweden Supreme Court orders Russian ship transfer to Ukraine

Sweden's Supreme Court has authorized the transfer of a seized Russian cargo vessel to Ukraine, setting a legal precedent for handing over assets suspected of being used in sanctions evasion and war crimes. The court dismissed a final appeal on August 4, upholding lower court rulings that the ship, the Caffa, can be handed over to Kyiv.

The 96-meter vessel, owned by Caffa Shipping Ltd, was boarded by armed Swedish police off the southern coast near Trelleborg on March 6. Authorities acted on a request for legal assistance from Ukraine, where the Caffa is under investigation. Swedish courts found that the ship was sailing under a false Guinean flag and was in violation of maritime safety laws due to a lack of seaworthiness.

Ukraine alleges the Caffa was part of a Russian "shadow fleet," a network of aging, often uninsured vessels with opaque ownership used to circumvent Western sanctions. Ukrainian officials suspect the ship of transporting grain stolen from occupied Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian sanctions commissioner, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, stated the Caffa had previously been involved in moving stolen grain, including a shipment from the port of Sevastopol in Crimea in July...