Main points
- The Israeli Foreign Minister reported that a ship with Ukrainian grain has already left the port of Haifa.
- The vessel “ABINSK” received permission to unload in Israel, despite information about stolen grain from the occupied territories.
Photo by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Facebook of Kateryna Yaresko / Collage 24 Channel
Israel has accepted the ship “ABINSK”, which was transporting Ukrainian grain from the occupied territories. And it is no longer possible to detain it – it has left the country's port.
What is known about the situation with Ukrainian grain from the occupied territories?
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar sent a text message to his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiza on Thursday, April 16, and spoke about the situation, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported on the social network X.
He wrote that the Israeli Foreign Ministry knew about the ship two weeks before it arrived at the port. In addition, senior Ukrainian officials said that they had made it clear to Israel that they were demanding the confiscation of the wheat cargo.
Recall that the ABINSK vessel was received in Haifa (Israel) with a cargo of wheat, which was actually stolen by the Russians from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. This was reported by Kateryna Yaresko, a journalist of the SeaKrime project of the Myrotvorets Center, on her Facebook page.
She said that the ship loaded at the anchorage of the port of Kavkaz. At the same time, the cargo was delivered from the occupied Ukrainian ports . ABINSK had been waiting for permission from Israel since March 23, and received it on April 12.
What else should you know about the current situation?
- Ukraine notified Israel about the ship “ABINSK” and the possible origin of the cargo – from the occupied territories – on March 23. Kyiv received assurances of an appropriate response.
- Despite the information received, the vessel was allowed to unload at the port of Haifa on April 12-14.
- Ukraine believes that the vessel “ABINSK” may be involved in the activities of Russia's “shadow fleet”. The Kremlin may use the ship for the illegal export, transportation and sale of stolen Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied territories. In particular, the resources may be directed to Russia's war against Ukraine.