Ships accused of stealing Ukrainian grain linked to Assad regime front

Editor's Note: This story was authored by Mohammad Bassiki (SIRAJ), Selma Mhaoud, and Shaya Laughlin, and published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The Kyiv Independent, a member center of OCCRP, is republishing it with permission. Key findings: * Records reveal that the government of Bashar Al-Assad sold the three government-owned cargo ships to an opaque firm in the Seychelles in 2023 — two of them for just $1 each. * Since then, the shadowy vessels have b