Friendly ties between Ukraine and Israel have been strained by a dispute over grain shipments Kyiv says were taken from occupied Ukrainian territory. The controversy began on April 12 with a Facebook post by Kateryna Yaresko of the SeaKrime project at the Myrotvorets Center, which claimed the Russian cargo ship Abinsk had arrived in Haifa carrying 43,765.18 tons of wheat taken from Ukrainian-occupied areas. At the time there was no official confirmation.
About two weeks later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said another vessel carrying allegedly stolen grain had docked in Israel. Kyiv summoned the Israeli ambassador and warned Israel not to accept stolen goods, saying Tel Aviv had not adequately responded to earlier Ukrainian concerns.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar countered that Ukraine had not provided proof and that Israel would investigate and act according to the law. He criticized Kyiv for airing the matter publicly before filing a formal legal assistance request, arguing that disputes between friendly countries should not be played out on social media.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry published a timeline saying diplomats had discussed the issue in late March and that on April 15 Ukraine had sought international legal assistance from Israel regarding the Abinsk. The ministry said Israeli authorities nevertheless allowed the ship to unload and depart despite Ukraine’s request not to do so.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 30 called buying stolen goods a criminal act and said Russia systematically removes grain from occupied Ukrainian territories for export. He said Ukraine was preparing a sanctions package based on intelligence to target those moving the grain and others profiting from the trade, and that Kyiv was coordinating with European partners to seek listings of offenders on EU sanctions lists.
Israeli military analyst David Sharp argued Israel is unlikely to take strong action without clear, court-usable evidence tying shipments to occupied Ukrainian land. He noted Israel’s independent judiciary protects private business contracts and that the Foreign Ministry cannot simply force a private buyer to cancel a deal without solid legal or intelligence material that prosecutors could use.
Ukrainian experts say gathering that kind of evidence is difficult. Ivan Us of the National Institute for Strategic Studies says Russia appears to blend grain from occupied Ukrainian areas with Russian grain at transshipment depots and then declare it Russian, making it look legal to buyers. Serhiy Danylov of the Ukrainian Association of Middle East Studies said the Ukrainian embassy provided Israeli authorities with intelligence on routes, sea shipments, owners and logistics, and he criticized Israel for not heeding warnings.
Kyiv pursued formal legal channels. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said on April 29 that Ukraine had submitted documents and a request concerning a vessel named Panoramitis, asking Israeli authorities to detain the ship and its cargo, secure and inspect vessel documents, take grain samples, and question the crew. Kravchenko also said that since the full-scale invasion began, more than 1.7 million tons of agricultural products — worth over 20 billion hryvnia (roughly €388 million/$455 million) — have been illegally exported from temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
Israeli media later reported that the Israeli company Zenziper refused to accept a shipment suspected of being stolen Ukrainian grain and that the freighter left Haifa. Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel said the ship was bound for neutral waters and vowed that criminal and sanctions proceedings would continue. Reports indicated the Russian supplier was told to find another unloading port; Israeli outlets described the incident as the first time a suspected stolen Ukrainian grain shipment was refused and not unloaded in Israel.
This article was originally written in Ukrainian.