Further to our earlier post, the Swedish courts have ordered the formal seizure of the cargo ship the Caffa. It is alleged that this vessel was used to carry grain from territory formerly controlled by Ukraine and now occupied by Russian forces.
Reuters has also reported that the Court has ruled that title to the vessel may now be transferred to Ukraine on the basis that the alleged behaviour of shipping grain from Ukraine may constitute a war crime under Swedish law.
It is being reported that Bulgaria’s Ministry of Justice has ordered an investigation into sales of real estate in Bulgaria by the Russian state enterprise Goszagransobstvennost.
The sales are reported to have been to Valentin Zlatev, former head of Lukoil Bulgaria, and with payment said to have been deferred until the lifting of sanctions.
Further to our recent post on the seizure of the shadow fleet tanker, the Tagor, it has now been announced that that the vessel’s captain was arrested on 2 June, and was released from detention yesterday.
The captain has not been charged but investigations are ongoing. The prosecutor’s in the town of Brest is reported to have said the captain may face a custodial sentence of up to a year.
French President Macron has announced the seizure yesterday of the tanker the Tagor in the Atlantic. The British Royal Navy provided support.
It is reported that the vessel was en route from Murmansk, and so was presumably carrying cargo.
The vessel was in international waters some 400 nautical miles west of France, and is suspected of sailing under a false flag.
We have updated our Vessel Seizure tracker – here.
Collating the outcomes published in the weekly reports by Estonia’s Tax and Customs Board (see our earlier post for the period from 14 October 2025 to 13 January 2026), reveals the following data:
The weekly reports give details of many other prevented exports and imports where no further action was taken for first time offenders.
It is being reported (here and here) that the Polish authorities have arrested and imposed bail and travel restrictions on several members of a ring suspected of exports of sanctioned goods to Belarus.
Also arrested, and a search conducted at her house, was a Polish Customs official who is alleged to have taken bribes in return for allowing goods to be exported without inspections.
The exporters are said to have used two sets of paperwork, with Polish Customs shown export documents for food and beverage products, and Belarusian customs shown accurate paperwork for the sanctioned spare parts and other engineering products.
The exports are said to have taken placed between June 2025 and April 2026 using the Kukuryki-Kazlovichy border crossing.
On Friday the trail commenced of two brothers suspected of their role in 65 exports to Russia in the mechanical engineering sector said to be valued at c. €833,000.
The brothers were each managing directors of the exporting company.
A separate prosecution is underway against the father.
The exports to Russia were, it is alleged, masked through exports to shell companies in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan.
The District Court in Viru has convicted Aleksei Toom of sanctions offences and sentenced his to nine months in prison suspended for one year conditional upon no further offending.
Mr Toom’s conviction was for authoring over 100 press articles for a media outlet that is controlled by Dmitry Kiselyov, a designated person under the EU’s Russian sanctions.
Mr Toom’s employment had ended in October 2020, but he continued to write under the pen name Paul Tomson until December 2023.
The Prosecution, and the court, took the view that such articles were an economic resource, and that Russia Today’s portal, Baltnews, was controlled by Mr Kiselyov.
It has been reported that the Lithuanian authorities have arrested a Polish national on suspicion of trying to export to Belarus the equivalent of €60,000 in physical currency in Polish zlotys and US dollars.
The man was attempting to climb over a border fence when he was detected.
The Dutch FIOD has issued a press release relating to the arrest of 59 and 37 year-old men from Amsterdam and the Hague respectively. Three business premises were also raised and searched.
The investigation relates to a web-hosting company founded in 2022 and designated by the EU in May 2025 for its role in the facilitation of “destabilizing activities directed against the European Union, including interference, cyberattacks and the spread of disinformation”. Following the designation the 57-year old set up a new company in the Netherlands which is alleged to have acted as a front for the continuing operations of the sanctioned entity.
A second Dutch company, of which the 39-year old was the sole shareholder and director is alleged to have played a facilitating role in providing interet connectivity.
