KIEV, April 12. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities have confiscated ten Russian ships that were undergoing maintenance at the Odessa port with the purpose of nationalizing them, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) said in a statement on Tuesday.
"SBI investigators, assisted by coast guards and the 17th unit of the State Border Service, prevented eight Russian cargo ships and two tankers, which were undergoing maintenance at the Odessa port, from leaving Ukraine. The vessels were involved in Russia’s logistics activities on the Black Sea and the Danube River," the statement reads.
According to the SBI, it "continues to work hard to detect and nationalize" Russia’s property.
On March 10, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a law enabling the Kiev regime to forcibly confiscate properties belonging to Russia and Russian entities. On April 1, Ukraine’s parliament passed a bill amending the law, which expanded the authority to confiscate properties subject to nationalization to include those of Russian nationals and individuals linked to Russia. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal stated on April 8 that all Russian property would be nationalized in Ukraine.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country.