Relations between Ukraine and Israel, long friendly and cooperative, have been strained by a dispute over grain. The row began with a Facebook post on April 12 by Kateryna Yaresko, a journalist with the SeaKrime project of the Myrotvorets Center, which said the Russian cargo ship Abinsk had arrived in Haifa carrying 43,765.18 tons of wheat taken from Ukrainian-occupied territories. There was no official confirmation at the time.
Two weeks later Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said another ship carrying grain allegedly stolen from occupied Ukrainian territories had docked in Israel. Kyiv summoned the Israeli ambassador to the Foreign Ministry. Sybiha warned Israel against accepting stolen grain and harming bilateral ties after Kyiv’s earlier request on the matter, saying Israel had not responded appropriately.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar replied that evidence substantiating the allegations had not been provided and that the matter would be investigated and handled according to the law. Saar criticized Kyiv for publicizing the issue before submitting a formal request for legal assistance, saying diplomatic matters between friends should not be conducted on social media.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry published a timeline saying diplomats discussed the issue in late March and that on April 15 Ukraine had requested international legal assistance from Israel concerning the Abinsk. The ministry said Israeli authorities had prematurely allowed the ship to unload and depart despite Ukraine’s request not to do so.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weighed in on April 30, calling the purchase of stolen goods a criminal offense and saying Russia systematically removes grain from occupied Ukrainian territories and exports it. He said Ukraine was preparing a sanctions package based on intelligence that would target those transporting the grain and others profiting from the trade, and that Kyiv was coordinating measures with European partners to seek inclusion of offenders on EU sanctions lists.
Israeli military expert David Sharp said Israel likely would not escalate without comprehensive evidence linking the shipments to occupied Ukrainian territory. He noted that Israel’s independent judiciary protects private business contracts, and the Foreign Ministry cannot simply order a business to cancel a purchase without strong legal or intelligence evidence that can be used in court or by prosecutors.
Gathering such evidence is difficult, Ukrainian experts say. Ivan Us of the National Institute for Strategic Studies explained that Russia appears to mix grain from occupied Ukrainian areas with Russian grain at transshipment depots and declare it Russian, making it appear legal to buyers. Serhiy Danylov of the Ukrainian Association of Middle East Studies said the Ukrainian embassy provided Israeli authorities intelligence on routes, sea shipments, owners and logistics, and criticized Israel for ignoring warnings.
Kyiv has sought formal legal assistance from Israel. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said on April 29 that Ukraine had submitted documents and a request regarding a vessel named Panoramitis, asking Israeli authorities to detain the ship and its cargo, secure and inspect ship documents, take grain samples, and question the crew. Kravchenko said that since the full-scale invasion began, more than 1.7 million tons of agricultural products worth over 20 billion hryvnia (about €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 had left Haifa. Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel said the ship was leaving for neutral waters and vowed criminal and sanctions proceedings would continue. Reports said the Russian supplier was told to find another unloading location; Israeli outlets described this as the first time a suspected stolen Ukrainian grain shipment was refused and not unloaded in Israel.
This article was originally written in Ukrainian.