Sibiha: Russia stole over 2 million tons of grain from the occupied territories

Last year, Russia stole over 2 million tons of grain from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine; it was sold to Africa, Middle Eastern countries and Europe, said the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Andriy Sybiha on Thursday.

“Moscow sent it (grain – PAP) to the markets of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Nearly 40 percent went to Egypt,” Sybiha wrote on the X platform.

The minister explained that in order to illegally trade grain, Russia used ports on the Azov and Black Seas and created an additional shadow fleet for this purpose.

“Our intelligence has already identified 45 ships involved in the theft of Ukrainian grain and its transport to world markets; we have imposed sanctions on 43 of them, as well as on 39 captains,” the head of Ukrainian diplomacy emphasized.

Sybiha called on Ukraine's European partners to closely monitor sea shipments of grain from Ukraine.

“All Russian infrastructure involved in the theft of Ukrainian grain, as well as its buyers, must be subject to European sanctions as soon as possible. We already have experience in countering tankers from the Russian shadow fleet. Now it is time to also stop the expansion of the Russian shadow fleet to transport grain,” the minister said.

From Kiev Jarosław Junko (PAP)

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