Every year, Russia steals 5 million tons of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine

Russia steals 5 million tons of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine every year, and then passes this grain off as its own using technical means.

Minister of Agricultural Policy Vitaly Koval said this in an interview with The Ukrainian Review.

He noted that Ukraine, at various levels and international forums, emphasizes the need to block Russia’s trade in stolen Ukrainian grain at the international level.

Every year, Russia steals 5 million tons of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine, and then passes this grain off as its own using technical means. This grain is then shipped to the markets of the Middle East and Africa, and the proceeds are used to finance military operations on the territory of Ukraine, Koval added.

The Minister said that in 2024, the Ministry of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a grain inspection scheme with the Minister of Agriculture of Lithuania Kazys Starkavičius in Vilnius.

This is a scheme for checking Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia from the occupied territories using a special GVS system. The checks are intended to prevent the transshipment of this grain through Lithuanian ports. The trilateral document of understanding between the Ukrainian, Lithuanian and British sides was the first step in countering the trade in stolen Ukrainian grain.

Earlier, USM reported that a ship transporting stolen grain from Crimea was arrested in the Black Sea.