Ukraine has been saying for months that Russia is funneling grain from occupied territories. There is increasing evidence for this, as is also apparent from conversations of BBC with Ukrainian farmers in occupied territory.
The ship, Zjibek Zjoly, comes from the port of Berdyansk in southeastern Ukraine. The harbor had been out of use for months because of the war, but this week it became clear that a ship carrying 7,000 tons of grain had sailed out of the harbor.
Russia denies that it stole this grain. According to authorities, it was legally purchased from farmers in occupied territory.
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Export from occupied territory for some time
Yörük Işık, a Turkish expert in geopolitics surrounding the Bosphorus, explains that Russia has been exporting grain from occupied Ukrainian territory for some time.
“It has been doing this since 2014, when Crimea was annexed. Now it also exports stolen grain from newly occupied territories. In recent months, ships carrying false documents passed through the Bosphorus. Those documents stated, for example, that grain from Crimea or the Russian mainland came. But the ship Zhibek Zjoly is officially sailing from the port of Berdyansk.”
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Ukrainian grain export
Ukrainian agriculture plays a major role in the global food supply. The country is known as the ‘breadbasket of Europe’ due to its fertile soil.
Normally, about 12 percent of global wheat exports, 16 percent of maize exports and 18 percent of barley exports come from Ukraine.
Because of the war, harvesting is much more difficult than usual. In addition, farmers cannot lose their harvest. By far the largest part of the export goes via the Black Sea. But Russia is blocking Ukrainian ports and there are many sea mines in the Black Sea. About 25 million tons of grain is at risk of spoiling as a result.
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The fact that this ship is officially sailing out of the port of Berdyansk is inconvenient for Turkey.
“Turkey has always supported Ukraine, maybe even more than other European countries,” says Işık. “But it also has an interest in this trade, especially now. The country is facing economic problems, and by cooperating in the export of grain from occupied territory, it can buy grain cheaply.” Most of the grain probably goes to Turkey and Syria and eventually to Iraq and Iran.
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Russia denies, Turkey remains silent
Ukraine wants the ship to be detained for carrying stolen grain. It also wants an investigation into three other Russian ships that may be carrying stolen grain from Crimea through the Bosphorus. But it is not certain whether Turkey is also cooperating with Ukraine.
A spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that the ship is only “undergoing a standard procedure”. The Turkish government is silent for the time being. Turkey has to make a trade-off: make a profit by letting such ships through, or support Ukraine by stopping the ship.
“Maybe Russia is just watching what happens when they officially sail out of occupied territory. They want to see if they can get away with it,” Işık says.
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