Ukraine welcomes halt of PANORMITIS cargo unloading in Israel

Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, welcomed a positive outcome after the vessel PANORMITIS did not unload its cargo, saying the development had been supported by investigative efforts.

In a statement published by the Embassy of Ukraine in Israel on May 1, Korniychuk said Kyiv continued to face major obstacles in gathering evidence linked to alleged offences in territories occupied by Russia.

“As Ukraine continues to defend itself in a brutal war for over four years, our capacity to gather comprehensive and precise evidence is inherently restricted,” he said.

“It is crucial to emphasise that the alleged offences are being committed within territories currently under Russian occupation, which severely impedes our direct access to primary evidence. Therefore, we expect the Israeli authorities to evaluate the submitted materials as reasonable under these circumstances.”

The embassy also criticised what it said was Israel’s failure to fulfil a request for mutual legal assistance aimed at facilitating evidence gathering.

“At the same time, we note that our request for mutual legal assistance, submitted specifically to facilitate evidence gathering, has not been fulfilled,” the statement said.

“Declining the request for lack of evidence is difficult to justify and inherently subverts the foundational principles of the relevant treaty, whose primary purpose is to grant assistance in obtaining the very evidence being sought.”

The embassy said it would continue monitoring entities allegedly linked to “illegal shipments” of goods originating from Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories and would pursue additional submissions to sanctions lists.

Nevertheless, the embassy welcomed the decision by the Israeli authorities to open investigation No. 187032/26 following its request.

“We believe that the crime committed will be properly investigated and the relevant law enforcement authorities will not allow the individuals and entities involved to evade responsibility,” the statement added.

By Aghakazim Guliyev