A Russian cargo ship that Ukraine alleges holds stolen grain from territory seized by Moscow appears to have reached the Syrian port of Tartus, according to satellite images analyzed Thursday by The Associated Press.
The arrival of the SV Konstantin marks just the latest shipment of Ukrainian grain -- whether legally purchased or allegedly looted -- to reach Syria. Another, the Razoni, recently docked full of legally purchased Ukrainian corn as part of a United Nations-led effort to get the country's food out of the war zone to a hungry world.
The Konstantin's arrival also shows the level Damascus has relied on Russia to keep its embattled President Bashar Assad in power amid his own nation's yearslong war, particularly at this Mediterranean Sea port that hosts Russian warships and has crucial Russian-run grain silos.
The Konstantin traveled from the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea from around July 6, according to ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP.
The ship had loaded Ukrainian grain at Sevastopol, said Ihor Ostash, Ukraine's ambassador to Lebanon, during an interview with Espreso TV. That port city in Crimea has seen Russian forces previously bring grain by truck from occupied territories, Ukrainian officials say.
The Konstantin travelled through the Bosphorus and reached the Turkish city of Izmir on the Aegean Sea. The ship then headed into the Mediterranean along the coast of Cyprus before switching off its Automatic Identification System tracker on Sunday. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS trackers on, but vessels wanting to hide their movements often turn theirs off. Those heading to Syrian ports routinely do so.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP show the Konstantin off the coast of Tartus on Tuesday and Wednesday. The vessel's length, width and appearance resembles previous Planet Labs images of the ship taken at a time corresponding to when its AIS tracker was still on north of Cyprus.
Yoruk Isik, a non-resident scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute who monitors shipping through the Bosphorus, has been tracking the Konstantin. He and other open-source intelligence analysts first said they believed the vessel to be off Tartus as well, based on the satellite photos.
Officials at Tartus port could not be reached for comment. Syria's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.
Syria remains sanctioned by the West over killing and abuses of civilians during the civil war, though food supplies have been exempted by the West. Already in May, satellite images showed the Russian-flagged Matros Pozynich at dockside in Latakia, Syria. Ukraine said the ship had 27,000 tons of grain Russia stolen from it and initially tried to sell to Egypt, which refused to take the cargo.
Tartus, on the Mediterranean Sea, lies about 320 kilometres (200 miles) northwest of Syria's capital, Damascus. Russia has a Soviet-era naval base there, the only such facility outside the former Soviet Union.
In 2017, Moscow struck a deal with Assad's government to extend its lease on Tartus for 49 years. The agreement allows Russia to keep up to 11 warships there, including nuclear-powered ones. Satellite photos this week showed at least two Russian submarines and other warships at the port.
Russian firm Stroytransgaz, owned by billionaire oligarch Gennady Timchenko through his investment firm Volga Group, runs the port. Timchenko is a billionaire close to Russian President Vladimir Putin sanctioned by the European Union and the U.S. Stroytransgaz did not respond to a request for comment.
------
Associated Press writer Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Police say that arrests have been made in connection with a $20-million gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport one year ago.
A group of doctors say Canadian cancer screening guidelines set by a national task force are out-of-date and putting people at risk because their cancers aren't detected early enough.
Lululemon says it is combining function and fashion in its first-ever summer kit for Canada's Olympians and Paralympians.
The strain placed on Canadian health care during the COVID-19 pandemic shows no sign of abating, and the top official of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is warning that improving the system will be a 'slow process' requiring sustained investment.
An Ontario woman says she never expected to be gifted a Blue Jays jersey for her ailing husband when she sat alone at the team’s home opener next to a couple of kind strangers.
After its last closure in 2021, it has now reopened for guided tours of the air raid shelter and the bunker. The complex now includes a multimedia exhibition about Rome during World War II, air raid systems for civilians, and the series of 51 Allied bombings that pummeled the city between July 1943 and May 1944.
Canadians will learn Tuesday the entirety of the federal Liberal government's new spending plans, and how they intend to pay for them, when Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tables the 2024 federal budget.
The family of a Victoria, B.C., woman who was seriously injured in an accident in Thailand is pleading for help as medical bills pile up.
An immersive experience inside a massive dome coined 'The Brain' is helping youth learn about brain function and addiction
Three teenagers were arrested in connection with a pair of alleged hazing incidents on a Manitoba hockey team, police say.
Police say that arrests have been made in connection with a $20-million gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport one year ago.
An inmate who escaped from Dorchester Penitentiary in Dorchester, N.B., on Saturday evening has a long history of violent crimes and a history of escaping custody.
Toronto police say they have laid 54 charges against three suspects following a carjacking investigation.
As Canadians deal with a crushing housing shortage, high rental prices and inflationary price pressures, now Equifax Canada is warning that Canadian consumers are increasingly under stress"from the surging cost of living.
The annual inflation rate ticked higher in March compared with February, boosted by higher prices for gasoline, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
The world installed 117 gigawatts of new wind power capacity in 2023, a 50 per cent increase from the year before, making it the best year for new wind projects on record, according to a new report by the industry's trade association.
Australia's prime minister said Tuesday a French construction worker who confronted a man who stabbed six people to death in a Sydney shopping mall is welcome to stay in the country as long as he likes.
After its last closure in 2021, it has now reopened for guided tours of the air raid shelter and the bunker. The complex now includes a multimedia exhibition about Rome during World War II, air raid systems for civilians, and the series of 51 Allied bombings that pummeled the city between July 1943 and May 1944.
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
More potential jurors were dismissed Tuesday from Donald's Trump's hush money case as lawyers worked for a second day to find a panel of New Yorkers to decide whether the Republican will become the first former president convicted of a crime.
The creation of sexually explicit deepfake content is likely to become a criminal offense in England and Wales as concern grows over the use of artificial intelligence to exploit and harass women.
Canadians will learn Tuesday the entirety of the federal Liberal government's new spending plans, and how they intend to pay for them, when Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tables the 2024 federal budget.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she's urging Israel to de-escalate rising conflicts in the Middle East and not bomb Iran in retaliation for this past weekend's thwarted airstrikes.
The federal leader of the New Democrats is insisting his party's position on carbon pricing remains unchanged.
The strain placed on Canadian health care during the COVID-19 pandemic shows no sign of abating, and the top official of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is warning that improving the system will be a 'slow process' requiring sustained investment.
A group of doctors say Canadian cancer screening guidelines set by a national task force are out-of-date and putting people at risk because their cancers aren't detected early enough.
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
NASA confirmed Monday that a mystery object that crashed through the roof of a Florida home last month was a chunk of space junk from equipment discarded at the International Space Station.
Using genes from coffee plants around the world, researchers built a family tree for the world's most popular type of coffee, known to scientists as Coffea arabica and to coffee lovers simply as 'arabica.'
NASA is seeking innovative methods that could help retrieve samples collected by the Perseverance rover on Mars in the future.
Classic characters, new stories, fresh mashups. Will it all be a bonanza for makers as classic works again begin entering the public domain?
A portrait of Winston Churchill by an artist whose work the British leader loathed went on display Tuesday at Churchill's birthplace ahead of an auction in June.
Canadian 'Jeopardy!' champion Mattea Roach will return for the season annual 'Jeopardy! Masters' tournament.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in March declined seven per cent compared with February.
Tim Hortons is launching flatbread pizzas nationally in a bid to pick up more afternoon and evening customers.
A Vancouver woman whose company duped investors by promising big returns on real-estate deals that would house the homeless has been ordered to pay nearly $626,000 after the British Columbia Securities Commission deemed the operation a Ponzi scheme.
In Salman Rushdie's first book since the 2022 stabbing that hospitalized him and left him blind in one eye, the author wastes no time reliving the day he thought might be his last.
The one thing 9-year-old Cal Clifford wanted more than anything since he was a toddler was a pet octopus.
His new book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” essentially calls for a revolution in how parents administer smartphones and social media to their teens.
Three teenagers were arrested in connection with a pair of alleged hazing incidents on a Manitoba hockey team, police say.
Lululemon says it is combining function and fashion in its first-ever summer kit for Canada's Olympians and Paralympians.
An international competition is hoping to gather new and interesting ways to recycle Montreal's Olympic Stadium roof, which is set to be dismantled this summer.
Tesla has hit a series of roadblocks, including increased competition and declining sales. The company announced Monday it is slashing 10 per cent of its global workforce.
General Motors will move its Detroit headquarters to a new downtown office building next year and work to redevelop its iconic home along the Detroit River, company and city officials confirmed Monday.
Nissan expects to mass produce electric vehicles powered by advanced next-generation batteries by early 2029, the company said Tuesday during a media tour of an unfinished pilot plant.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.
B.C. resident Robert Conrad spent thousands of hours on Crown land developing an unusual bond with deer.
A Sudbury woman said her husband was bringing the recycling out to the curb Wednesday night when he had to make a 'mad dash' inside after seeing a bear.
A school teacher who took part in the Quebec version of the Survivor reality TV show took time off work to be a contestant is now out of a job.
A young actor from Prince Edward Island is getting the chance to fulfill a childhood dream, playing the precocious and iconic Anne Shirley on stage.
A man who was seriously injured in a downtown Vancouver shooting earlier this month was not the intended target, according to an update from authorities.
Vancouver police say a 29-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the targeted killing of a 49-year-old woman in South Vancouver.
Vancouver park rangers enforced the removal of several tents from CRAB Park Tuesday morning in what advocates decried as a "sweep and scatter" effort to displace more homeless campers.
Police say that arrests have been made in connection with a $20-million gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport one year ago.
A suspicious package delivered to Queen’s Park on Tuesday was determined to be a package of powdered gravy following a police investigation.
The Ontario government hopes to get shovels in the ground on Highway 413 in the next year.
A Crown prosecutor making the case against three men charged with mischief at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., told jurors Tuesday they don’t have to determine the accused were kingpins of the protest in order find them guilty.
Calgary police say the driver of a BMW was given a summons for a mandatory court appearance after being caught travelling more than double the speed limit.
As expected, a frontal system brought rain to southern Alberta, then heavy, wet snow into the region late Monday and early Tuesday.
Canadians will learn Tuesday the entirety of the federal Liberal government's new spending plans, and how they intend to pay for them, when Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tables the 2024 federal budget.
The city of Ottawa will be hosting the 2025 Ironman Canada Triathlon in 2025. The event will take athletes on a tour of the capital via the Ottawa River parkways and the Rideau Canal.
Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the theft of "several thousand" dollars worth of tropical fish stolen from an Upper Ottawa Valley restaurant last week.
A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit against 16 pharmaceutical companies that are alleged to have misled consumers about the efficacy and dangers of opioid medications.
An international competition is hoping to gather new and interesting ways to recycle Montreal's Olympic Stadium roof, which is set to be dismantled this summer.
The NHL says it has cleared Logan Mailloux for participation after the Montreal Canadiens recalled the defenceman Monday night ahead of their regular-season finale Tuesday.
The Edmonton Oilers are bringing back watch parties inside and outside Rogers Place when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in the coming days.
Canada's Tamarack Valley Energy TVE.TO has temporarily shut production of about 6,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) following a fire at a Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO gas plant in Alberta, the companies said on Monday.
Comedian Kevin Hart will headline the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival (GOCF) in Edmonton this summer, organizers announced Tuesday.
An inmate who escaped from Dorchester Penitentiary in Dorchester, N.B., on Saturday evening has a long history of violent crimes and a history of escaping custody.
The Nova Scotia RCMP says four people have been charged following a man’s homicide two years ago.
A portion of Barrington Street has reopened after a three-vehicle crash Tuesday morning.
Three teenagers were arrested in connection with a pair of alleged hazing incidents on a Manitoba hockey team, police say.
Police are investigating after a 12-year-old girl found a sawed-off shotgun on the shores of a Manitoba beach.
The battle between winter and spring conditions has started in Manitoba on Tuesday.
Saskatchewan's finance minister was ordered to apologize after she sent the Speaker a text accusing him of letting the legislature devolve into an 'Opposition puppet show' on Monday.
In Saskatchewan tourism generates over $2.4 billion in yearly spending and employs close to 71,000 people.
The U18 AAA Regina Rebels will compete for the national title for a second consecutive year after they defeated the Winnipeg Ice AAA at Western Regionals last week.
Cambridge resident Samantha Falkiner explains why something felt "off" about the men who approached her and her neighbours on Friday.
Waterloo Regional Police Services has released the estimated total cost for the St. Patrick’s Day weekend in the city of Waterloo.
Brantford police are investigating a series of personal thefts and are seeking information from the public to identify the people responsible.
The founders of a Saskatoon real estate investment company that left investors with millions of dollars in losses have reached a settlement with Saskatchewan’s financial and consumer watchdog.
Friends are raising money for the grieving family of a 16-year-old Saskatoon boy who was killed in a high-speed crash that injured two other teens on Sunday morning.
Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) are investigating the second homicide this week after a 25-year-old man was fatally shot early Tuesday morning.
Rescue crews are searching for a man reported missing on the weekend after the vehicle he was driving was pulled into a creek near the Quebec border in northern Ontario.
An Ontario woman was shocked to find she’d been charged nearly $7,000 after unknowingly using an unauthorized taxi company while on vacation in January.
As city council in Sudbury prepares to debate – again! -- the future of Sudbury Arena, here’s a quick look back at how residents got here.
A driver from London will have to find alternative transportation after an OPP officer clocked them travelling nearly 200 km/h on Highway 401 over the weekend.
A number of students have been displaced after a house fire in east London near Fanshawe College. Crews were called to the scene on Prosperity Court late Monday night.
Sifton Properties, Homes Unlimited (London) and the Anglican Diocese of Huron and St. Paul's Cathedral will be working together on the conversion of an office building to affordable housing.
Two new shows are coming to Casino Rama's Entertainment Centre for fans of country music and 80s rock.
Fire officials say a lithium-ion battery inside a vacuum cleaner sparked a fire at an apartment complex Sunday afternoon in Gravenhurst.
A woman from Alliston will take home a $1 million lottery prize after matching all seven Encore numbers in the exact order on the March 6 draw.
The ‘faint hope’ hearing of Ali Al-Shammari, 38, continued Tuesday in Superior court.
Windsor police have arrested a 35-year-old woman related to a porch pirate investigation in Walkerville.
The Essex Region Conservation Authority is preparing for an influx of birders migrating to the region to snap, track and catch glimpses of special species in Leamington.
The Department of Fisheries says planning for a new attempt to rescue an orca calf trapped in a Vancouver Island lagoon will be finalized in the next few days but no date has been set.
The family of a Victoria, B.C., woman who was seriously injured in an accident in Thailand is pleading for help as medical bills pile up.
Vancouver police say a 29-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the targeted killing of a 49-year-old woman in South Vancouver.
British Columbia is planning to add 240 new units to its complex-care housing program, providing homes for people with mental-health and addictions challenges that overlap with other serious conditions.
More than 80 residents from a low-income apartment building in Kelowna, B.C., have learned they won't be able to return to their homes for at least another two weeks.
Mounties are investigating a reported "road rage" incident in Kelowna, B.C., that left two men injured last week.
Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips is calling on the province to reinstate funding for the Lethbridge Elder Abuse Response Network.
If you’re planning to head to the coulees this weekend to enjoy the nice weather, don’t forget to look down.
With the weather starting to feel like spring is really here, more kids will likely be outside enjoying the sunshine and warm temperatures, which organizers of the Slow Your Roll campaign say is a perfect time to re-launch the campaign.
Here is a look at how some northern Ontario colleges are being affected by the new Canadian immigration policy that has reduced the number of new international students.
The City of Sault Ste. Marie is expecting a busy summer at the Downtown Plaza. City officials say the plaza is coming off a successful first winter season, which saw large crowds gathering at the outdoor rink.
The Soo Greyhounds are the talk of the town, as their second-round matchup in the OHL playoffs touches down in the Sault.
A pricing agreement has been reached between crab fishers and seafood processors that will allow for Newfoundland and Labrador's annual crab fishery to get started.
Longliners across Newfoundland and Labrador are tied up once again, as a new protest by the province's fish harvesters threatens to derail the crab fishery for a second straight year.
A unique photo exhibit is putting cameras into the hands of survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
