Since the beginning of the war, Russia has exported at least $530 million worth of grain from Ukraine, which was eventually spent on the war, the Associated Press found out in a joint investigation with the PBS channel.
The journalists used satellite imagery, documents on the transportation of grain, videos posted on the network, and ship transponder data. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, more than 50 flights with food have arrived in the ports of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, including the ships Laodicea, Suria and Phoenicia.
The material also says that the structures of the Russian billionaire Viktor Rashnikov and the state holding United Shipbuilding Corporation, which has already fallen under US sanctions, are connected with the transportation of stolen grain. Through its "daughter" Crane Marine Contractor, the company bought three cargo ships a few weeks before the war, subsequently they made at least 18 voyages between the Crimea and the ports of Turkey and Syria. So, the dry cargo ship "Mikhail Nenashev" associated with it entered the Crimea in the summer. The 170-meter vessel was filmed by satellite during loading at the Avlita terminal in annexed Sevastopol, while its radio transponder was turned off. Then it went to Turkey: the ship was photographed at the Metalurji pier, the Turkish asset of Viktor Rashnikov's Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. The documents indicated that the ship with grain was sent to the port of Kavkaz, but this port is too shallow for this ship and it would run aground, the newspaper notes.
Also, separately, journalists emphasize that photos and videos are posted on the network, which depict grain trucks moving through the occupied regions of Ukraine. Most of them have a "Z" symbol on them. Satellite imagery also shows trucks and trains queuing as grain is loaded onto ships.
An agreement on the export of grain from Ukrainian ports was signed by Moscow and Kiev on July 22 in Istanbul with the participation of the UN. Grain was agreed to be delivered from three ports – Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny, but the day after the signing of the agreement, Odessa was subjected to rocket fire, as a result of which a fire broke out in the local port. According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, since the beginning of the war, Russia has stolen and exported hundreds of thousands of tons of Ukrainian grain, part of the stolen grain is bought by Turkey. Also, a significant part of the stolen grain was transported across the Mediterranean on bulk carriers flying Russian flags to Syria. On August 1, a ship with grain left the port of Odessa and headed for Lebanon. The cargo is owned by VA International Ukraine .
Some of Russia's leading grain exporters are losing market share as foreign buyers, insurers and shippers shun government-backed, sanctioned companies. This was reported by Bloomberg.