Grain robbery in Ukraine: Looted granary

Russia seems to be smuggling tons of grain out of Ukraine by truck and ship. For this purpose, papers are forged, drivers are advertised on Telegram and wheat is passed on on the open sea.

By Rebecca Barth, RBB, currently Kyiv

The port of Sevastopol on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea annexed by Russia: satellite images showed dozens of trucks near a ship as early as the end of May. They are loading stolen Ukrainian grain, as research by the Wall Street Journal shows at the time. A Russian soldier who drove one of the trucks told journalists: “The truck stays outside the port. Another driver brings it in, loads the wheat onto a ship. That’s it. Two big ships.”

The US State Department said in May that three Russian ships are suspected of transporting stolen Ukrainian wheat. Russia denies the allegations. But according to research by journalists from various media, these three Russian ships and other freighters flying the Syrian flag are said to be part of a smuggling route. It leads from the Russian-occupied areas in southern Ukraine via the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia to Syria.

And it seems to be organized by the state, explains Polina Ivanova, a journalist with the Financial Times: “Zaporizhia and southern Ukraine are the country’s breadbasket. After Russian troops occupied the area in March and took it under their control, they very quickly sort of quasi-government agencies set up under the occupation organs to take care of the grain trade.”

Millions in damage for the stricken Ukraine

Kamianka-Dnirowska – a place not far from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant – in southern Ukraine. This is where the smuggling is supposed to begin – at one of the largest granaries in the region, according to research by the “Wall Street Journal”. A number of trucks are supposed to load grain here. They have no license plates – instead they have a Z sprayed on – the sign for the Russian war of aggression. A Russian soldier tells journalists: “About 15 trucks. I drove a white Kamaz. I came in the morning of May 21 or 22. We loaded the grain and drove.”

And the journalists also found evidence of grain smuggling in other places in occupied southern Ukraine. Drivers are recruited in telegram groups – for almost 20 routes. Most lead to Crimea from the Ukrainian regions occupied this year. And documents show that the occupation authorities are confiscating wheat. A loss in the millions for the economically ailing Ukraine, explains Nikolai Gorbachev, President of the Ukrainian Grain Association:

Russia apparently conceals grain theft

Polina Ivanova and her colleagues at the Financial Times recently came to the same conclusion that Russia is trying to cover up the theft of grain. They find out that ships sometimes switch off their trackers, that wheat appears to be passed from ship to ship on the open sea. And that documents are forged, Ivanova explains:

This makes it very difficult for customs officials to detect smuggling. But Nikolai Gorbachev from the Ukrainian grain association is convinced that sooner or later Russia will have to pay reparations for the theft. Even the sailors on the ships are known to the Ukrainian authorities. But first Ukraine must win the war.