Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he intends to seek sanctions over shipments to Israel of grain that Kyiv says was taken by Russia from occupied Ukrainian territory.
The president stressed that the restrictions could target carriers and all participants in the scheme. “Buying stolen goods in all normal countries is an act that carries legal liability. This applies, in particular, to grain stolen by Russia as well,” he wrote on April 28. According to him, Ukraine had tried through diplomatic channels to secure a ban on such vessels entering Israeli ports, but “yet another such vessel has not been stopped”.
The previous day, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said that another vessel—at least the second—carrying grain allegedly originating from occupied territories had entered the port of Haifa. Kyiv summoned Israel’s ambassador and urged that the cargo not be accepted. In response, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said Ukraine had provided no evidence for these claims.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the situation. “Let the Kyiv regime sort this out with Israel, and Israel—with the Kyiv regime. We would not like to comment on or get involved in this matter,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service had previously said that Russia sells grain from occupied territories disguised as its own in order to circumvent sanctions. According to Kyiv’s estimates, more than 2 million tonnes of grain were exported last year, with Egypt and Bangladesh as the main buyers.
On April 27, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that shipments of such grain to Israel have continued since at least 2023. According to the paper, two vessels have arrived in the country during that time, one of which was unloaded, while at least seven others tried to conceal the origin of their cargo.