Overview

• Financial Times verified at least three Sevastopol calls this year using satellite imagery, photographs and AIS records, including a Sept. 14 mooring.
• The vessel transmitted false positions during its Black Sea leg, concealing a diversion from the declared route to Crimea.
• Ukraine reports a port stay on June 19–22 and an Aug. 15 request to load 101 containers tied to a subsequent return.
• The calls mark the first documented visits by a Chinese-owned foreign vessel to the sanctioned port since 2014, according to the reporting.
• Kyiv has protested to Beijing as officials allege Russia is channeling goods from occupied Donetsk and Kherson via new rail links for export through Crimean ports.