Sweden seizes vessel CAFFA at Ukraine’s request

A Swedish court approved the Ukrainian side’s request and ordered the arrest of the CAFFA, which had been used by the invaders for illegal activities.

This was reported by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kravchenko, News.Az reports, citing Militarnyi.

This is the first case in judicial practice where, at the request of the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, a foreign court has approved the seizure of a vessel involved in the export of goods from the occupied territories. Cooperation between Ukrainian and Swedish law enforcement agencies made it possible to seize the vessel directly in a European port.

According to the Ukrainian investigation, the CAFFA systematically violated the legally established procedure for entering and exiting the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.

To conceal illegal voyages to closed Ukrainian ports, the organizers of the scheme used forged documents and means of disguise. In particular, in international shipping databases, this vessel was fictitiously registered under the name Guinea False.

The Kustbevakningen Coast Guard, with police support, is boarding the dry cargo ship CAFFA. March 2026. Photo credits: Kustbevakningen

As a reminder, in March, Swedish special forces and the coast guard carried out a large-scale operation, Svart kaffe, to seize the vessel CAFFA in the Baltic Sea.

Swedish Minister of Civil Defense Carl Oskar Bolin confirmed that last summer the ship changed its Russian flag to a Guinean one to conceal its activities. At the time of the interception, the dry cargo ship was en route from Casablanca to St. Petersburg.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli