Ukraine condemns Egypt for allowing transit of stolen grain

Prefer on Google by Kate Tsurkan Photo for illustrative purposes. Russian forces are reportedly using the occupied port city of Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast to steal transport stolen Ukrainian grain. Sep. 9, 2022. (Photo credit: STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images) Ukraine condemned Egypt on May 5 for allowing 26,900 tons of Ukrainian grain, stolen by Russia, to be unloaded at one of its ports — the fourth such case reported since April. Four days after Ukraine formally requested legal assistance from Egypt’s Justice Ministry —providing what it described as all necessary documentation and legal grounds to seize both the vessel and its cargo — Egypt allowed the ship Asomatos to unload the stolen grain at Abu Qir, according to Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. "Ukraine is a country that has played the role of a reliable food security guarantor for Egypt for many years — and we don't understand why Egyptian partners pay us back by continuing to accept stolen Ukrainian grain," Sybiha wrote . "We urge our Egyptian partners to uphold international law, their own promises made to us, and the principles of our bilateral relations. Stolen goods from occupied territories must be seized, not accepted. Looting is not trade, and complicity only fuels further aggression." In his message to Egyptian officials, Sybiha also invoked the legacy of the Holodomor — the Soviet-orchestrated famine that killed millions of Ukrainians through the confiscation of wheat and other crops — drawing a direct line between past and present acts of agricultural theft. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia has engaged in the systematic seizure of grain from its occupied territories, orchestrating exports through various networks since the start of the full-scale war. Kyiv maintains that these operations violate international law as well as the domestic statutes of countries that accept such shipments. In late April, Israel denied entry to a ship carrying stolen Ukrainian grain. The move was largely seen as a diplomatic win for Ukraine and came after tensions flared earlier in the month between Israel and Ukraine when another vessel transporting stolen Ukrainian grain was permitted to unload at an Israeli port.