The theft of Ukrainian grain from Russia appears to be on the rise as it continues its war against the country, according to new satellite images of the Crimean port of Sevastopol.
The images show two Russian-flagged bulk carriers moored and loaded with what is believed to be stolen Ukrainian grain. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “gradually stealing” Ukrainian food products and trying to sell them.
New images from Maxar Technologies, dated May 19 and 21, show the ships – Matros Pozynich and Matros Koshka – moored next to what looks like grain silos with grain spilled from a strip in an open hold. Both ships have already left port, according to marine tracking site MarineTraffic.com, with Matros Pozynich sailing across the Aegean claiming it is on its way to Beirut and Matros Koshka still in the Black Sea.
It is difficult to know for sure whether the ship is loaded with stolen Ukrainian grain, but Russia’s annexed Crimea produces little grain on its own, unlike the agriculturally rich Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye in the far north. Ukrainian officials and industry sources told CNN that Russian forces in the occupied territories had emptied several silos and transported the grain south.
Earlier this month, Matros Pozynich carried out a similar mission: loading grain and sailing from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. He initially traveled to Egypt with his cargo, but was repulsed by Alexandria after a warning from Ukrainian authorities, according to the country’s government. It was also banned from entering Beirut, eventually landing in Latakia, Syria, where Russia has supported the regime of Bashar al-Assad for years.
At the same time, Russia is blocking Ukraine from exporting goods from its ports, fueling fears of a global food crisis.
“The world community must help Ukraine unblock seaports, otherwise the energy crisis will be followed by a food crisis and many more countries will face it,” Zelensky said on Saturday. “Russia is blocking almost all ports and all, so to speak, maritime food export opportunities – our grain, barley, sunflower and others. Many things.”
Last week, CNN reported that the United States and its allies were discussing how to safely develop routes to transport grain from Ukraine amid concerns about global food supplies. Evidence that Russia is stealing grain only complicates these efforts.
Prior to the war, wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine accounted for nearly 30 percent of world trade, with Ukraine being the world’s fourth-largest corn exporter and the world’s fifth-largest wheat exporter, according to the US State Department. The UN World Food Program – which helps fight global food insecurity – buys about half of its wheat from Ukraine each year and warns of dire consequences if Ukrainian ports are not opened.
The ships have a capacity of 30,000 metric tons, and earlier this month the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine estimated that about 400,000 tons were stolen and exported from Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
Mykola Solski, Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, said it was “sent in an organized manner to Crimea. It is a big business controlled by top-level people.”
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, taking with it the key Black Sea port of Sevastopol. After launching a renewed invasion in February, Russia deprived Ukraine of access to two key ports: it captured Mariupol on the Sea of Azov and directed and blocked Odessa, also on the Black Sea. Ukraine’s inability to export from these ports not only affects food levels worldwide, but has a devastating impact on the country’s economy.
Approximately 22 million tons of grain are in Ukrainian silos, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said last week.
“The Russian Federation is wrong to say that international sanctions are to blame for the worsening global food crisis. The sanctions do not block Black Sea ports, seize food-filled ships and destroy Ukrainian roads and railways,” Blinken said. “It’s Russia.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier called allegations that Russia was stealing grain from its neighbor “fake news”, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS and other news agencies.
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