Russia steals 6 million tons of grain from Ukraine

Russia has stolen six million tons of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war. According to a US report on the impact of the Russian invasion on food security, the harvested grain was looted and taken away by the Russians.

“Areas under Russian occupation in 2022 housed dozens of grain elevators that stored Ukrainian supplies, according to open-source reporting. These areas include Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts,” the report states. 

Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed “leader” of illegally annexed Crimea, confirmed in mid-2022 that grain was removed from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and moved to Crimea, likely for export. In July 2022, the Russia-appointed “city council” of the port city of Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast issued an order to seize wheat and barley from a private company.

American experts formed conclusions about Russia’s theft of Ukrainian grain based on satellite images and data from open sources.

Russia used cargo ships to export grain. Ships passed through Türkiye to ports in Syria, Israel, Iran, Georgia, and Lebanon. “We cannot confirm if the buyers of the Russian cargoes were aware of the grains’ Ukrainian origin,” the report states.