Satellite images show the cargo ship Matros Pozynich again in the port of Latakia
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The bulk carrier Matros Pozynich was seen in the Syrian port of Latakia (Maxar Technologies)
Ago For weeks the Ukrainian government has been denouncing that Russian troops are stealing the grain stored in the granaries of the cities it controls, such as Berdyansk, in the southern region of Zaporizhia, and trucking it to the occupied peninsula of Crimea.
As it happened two weeks ago, this Sunday Maxar Technologies released satellite images showing the Russian freighter Matros Pozynich in the Syrian port of Latakia, on May 27.
According to the North American chain CNN, it is one of the three ships that have been loading grain in the port of Sevastopol, in Crimea, since the beginning of the invasion, which was last seen in that Ukrainian city on May 19 and was later tracked transiting through the Bosphorus Strait and south along the Turkish coast.
It is estimated that this ship can carry about 30,000 tons of grain.
Last Tuesday the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kuleba, urged the international community not to buy Russia’s “stolen grain” from his country and warned that, if it did, it would incur “ complicity” with the war crimes perpetrated by Putin’s troops.
“Russia steals Ukraine’s grain, loads it onto ships, crosses the Bosphorus and tries to sell it abroad,” Kuleba said in a message posted on his Twitter account.
The Foreign Minister called on the rest of the countries to “remain vigilant” and reject “this type of offer”, since not doing so implies becoming an “accomplice in Russian crimes”.
“Stealing never brought anyone luck,” concluded his message, which followed the spread of satellite images suggesting that Russia is stealing grain grown from Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters.
Days earlier, Kuleba had denounced that one of the buyers was the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. “Russia committed a triple crime: it bombed Syria, it temporarily occupied a part of Ukraine, and it is currently selling Ukrainian grain that it stole from Syria there. I would like to remind everyone involved in this shady business that theft has never brought luck to anyone”, he said in a statement.
The images were released on the 23rd May by the US network CNN and were apparently recorded in the port of Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.
The snapshots show two Russian-flagged bulk carriers docking and loading what is believed to be stolen Ukrainian grain.
Earlier this month, the Matros Pozynich undertook a similar mission: loading grain and sailing from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. She was initially headed to Egypt with her cargo, but was turned away in Alexandria after a warning from Ukrainian officials, according to the Ukrainian government.
Satellite images show how the Russians load tons of stolen Ukrainian grain (Maxar Technologies) onto their ships
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky had already launched accusations against Russia for “gradually stealing” Ukrainian food products and trying to sell them, taking advantage of the conflict.
According to Ukraine, Moscow has seized between 400,000 and 500,000 tons of grain worth more than 100 million dollars.
In this context of war, for Russia grain is a commodity attractive. The price of wheat is hovering around $400 a ton on world markets and has gone up a lot this year.
Before the start of the war, Russian and Ukrainian wheat supplies accounted for almost 30% of world trade, and Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and the world’s fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the US State Department.
The United Nations World Food Programme, which helps combat global food insecurity, buys about half of Ukraine’s wheat each year and has warned of dire consequences if Ukrainian ports are not opened.
They warn that the war in Ukraine will cause food shortages in many places and global famines (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)< p class=”paragraph”>Ukraine and Western countries have accused Russia of instrumentalizing the food crisis created by its invasion of Ukraine, which has pushed up the prices of grain, cooking oil, fuel and fertilizer.
Ukraine, considered one of the world’s breadbaskets for its high cereal production, expects to produce this year only 65% of its usual harvest, which will increase prices throughout the world and it will cause food shortages in many places and famines.
Ukrainian economist Oleh Pendzyn explained to the local radio station Hromadske Radio that the Ukrainian harvest has been seriously affected by the Russian invasion.
The economist recalled that, according to UN data, the war in Ukraine and the blockade of Ukrainian seaports could starve 1.7 billion people worldwide. “That’s because higher food prices will lead to higher world prices. Many will lose the economic capacity to have access to food”, said the expert.
(With information from EFE and CNN)