Kyiv imposes sweeping maritime sanctions as part of push for global compliance against ships moving illegally Ukrainian grain.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree enacting the National Security and Defence Council’s decision to impose sanctions on 56 vessels.

The 56 vessels are accused of entering illegally between 2022 and 2025 Ukrainian ports occupied by Russia and exporting Ukrainian food products.

He said the move marks “a new direction” in Ukraine’s sanctions policy.

According to the website of the president of Ukraine, the targeted vessels loaded thousands of tons of Ukrainian wheat, sunflower seeds, and other food products, and transported them to foreign markets.

In addition, a significant part of the vessels is already under sanctions from other countries, in particular the European Union, the USA and Switzerland. The vessels used flags not only of the Russian Federation: 17 of them sailed under the flags of other countries.

The president’s office assured that Ukraine will work with the relevant states to stop the issuance of licenses for these vessels.

“Ukraine will continue to increase pressure on Russia in every possible domain and will closely synchronize its decisions with partners to compel the aggressor state to end the war it has launched against our country and our people,” the statement reads.

Russia has not yet commented officially on the sanctions. The Shipping Telegraph cannot independently verify the Ukrainian report.