Ukraine accuses Israel of importing grain ‘stolen’ by Russia, as Zelenskyy warns of sanctions

A harvester collects wheat in the village of Zghurivka, Ukraine, on Aug. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine accused Israel on Tuesday of allowing the import of grain it says Russia stole from occupied territories, prompting a sharp exchange between officials in Kyiv and Jerusalem.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a vessel carrying grain had arrived at an Israeli port and was preparing to unload, calling the trade illegal and warning of sanctions against those involved.

Israel claimed that the vessel had not entered the port and had not yet submitted its documents. The MarineTraffic.com marine tracking website showed the ship had been in Haifa for several days.

“In any normal country, purchasing stolen goods is an act that entails legal liability,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Ukraine’s intelligence services were preparing sanctions targeting companies and individuals profiting from the shipments.

“We will also co-ordinate with European partners to ensure that the relevant individuals are included in European sanctions regimes,” he said.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the country’s tax authority had opened an investigation into a ship expected to dock at Haifa port.

Saar dismissed Zelenskyy’s comments as “Twitter diplomacy,” telling a press conference in Jerusalem that Ukraine had not provided sufficient information or requested legal assistance.

Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, said Kyiv had informed Israeli authorities about the vessels in advance. He said that more than two had arrived in Israel carrying agricultural products it described as illegally taken by Russia from the occupied Ukrainian land.

The ministry said it had summoned Israel’s ambassador, Michael Brodsky, and handed him a note of protest over what it called a continuing flow of such shipments. It added that the origin of the grain had been established and that concealment methods, including ship-to-ship transfers in the Black Sea, were well known.

Despite this, the cargoes continued to reach Israeli ports and enter commercial circulation, the ministry said, accusing Israel of failing to respond to formal requests to detain the vessels and cargo.

Kyiv described the issue as systemic rather than isolated, and urged Israel to halt imports it says involve stolen Ukrainian grain, warning the situation risks undermining bilateral relations.