Ukraine asks Israel to conduct laboratory analysis of grain from Russian ship Abinsk

Ukraine demands laboratory analysis of grain that could have been exported by Russia from the occupied territories and delivered to Israel. This is reported by Haaretz.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Tel Aviv has filed an official complaint with the Israeli police against two local companies — Zenziper and Dizengoff Trading. They are suspected of importing wheat that Russia exported from the temporarily occupied territories of eastern Ukraine.

According to diplomats, Dizengoff received a shipment of grain in the amount of 43.8 thousand tons, of which about 16.5 thousand tons are allegedly stolen Ukrainian wheat. The cargo was delivered by the Abinsk ship, which docked in the port of Haifa on April 12.

The Ukrainian side demands that samples of the grain be taken for laboratory analysis in order to identify its origin by characteristic soil markers of the eastern regions of Ukraine. Kyiv also insists on the seizure of ship documents to expose the forgery scheme and the illegal origin of the cargo.

According to the investigation, the grain was initially loaded onto small vessels in the occupied ports of Berdyansk and Sevastopol — Leonid Pastrikov and Fedor. Later, it was reloaded onto a larger vessel, the Abinsk, in the area of ​​the Kavkaz anchorage in the Black Sea. To conceal the origin of the cargo, the vessel periodically turned off its tracking systems.

Kyiv notes that this is part of a large-scale maritime smuggling scheme coordinated by the Russian supplier Strategic Grain Management, registered in Dubai.

In parallel, Ukraine is working with the EU on the possible introduction of sanctions against companies involved in the trade in products from the occupied territories. Earlier, the European Union has already stated its readiness to apply restrictions to participants in such schemes.

At the same time, Dizengoff Trading stated that they work in accordance with international standards and have all the necessary documents, while the Israeli Foreign Ministry called the complaint of the Ukrainian side insufficiently substantiated.

Tags: Ukraine, Russia, grain, Israel, grain stolen