Ukraine hands Israeli ambassador note of protest over imports of grain stolen by Russia

This was stated in a comment by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi regarding the invitation of the Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Foreign Ministry, according to Ukrinform.

Tykhyi reported that on April 28, Michael Brodsky, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, where he was handed a note of protest.

The reason was the arrival in Israel of agricultural products illegally exported by the Russian Federation from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian side emphasized that the origin of this grain has been accurately established, and the schemes used to conceal it—in particular, ‘ship-to-ship’ transshipments in the Black Sea—are well known, including to the relevant Israeli authorities. Despite this, such cargoes continue to arrive at Israeli ports and enter commercial circulation,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

According to him, it was separately emphasized that the Israeli side’s disregard for Ukraine’s official appeals and requests for international legal assistance, including the request to detain the vessels and cargo, effectively creates conditions for the legalization of the stolen Ukrainian grain.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it does not view these cases as isolated incidents, but as a systematic practice that bears the hallmarks of deliberate facilitation of illegal economic activity linked to the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories, as well as the circumvention of sanctions. We emphasize separately that this is not limited to Israel: the Ukrainian side systematically responds to and counteracts such activities by the Russian Federation in all regions,” Tykhyi noted.

The Ukrainian side also drew attention to the unacceptable discrepancy whereby, despite Ukraine’s support for Israel’s security and decisions to counter terrorist threats—particularly those linked to Iran—Israel effectively permits the import of stolen Ukrainian grain from the Russian Federation.

“In this regard, Ukraine demands that the Israeli side immediately take measures to halt the import of stolen grain and prevent its unloading at Israeli ports,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson emphasized.

The Foreign Ministry also released a timeline of Ukraine’s actions, starting from March 23.

As reported by Ukrinform, on April 15, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha drew the attention of his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar to a Russian vessel carrying stolen Ukrainian agricultural products that had docked at one of Israel’s ports.

Earlier, Kateryna Yaresko, a journalist with the SeaKrime investigative project of the Myrotvorets Center, reported that on April 12, Israel allowed the Russian bulk carrier ABINSK (IMO: 9303869) to enter the port of Haifa. The ship delivered 43,700 tons of wheat taken from the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Israel informed Ukraine that it was already too late to detain the Russian vessel accused of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain, as the ship had already left the port of Haifa.

On April 27, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha commented on the news that Israel had accepted a second ship carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia from the occupied territories.