Ukraine asks Israel to seize vessel it claims is carrying grain stolen by Russia

Ukraine has asked Israel to seize a vessel it claims is carrying grain looted from Russian-occupied territories, triggering a rare diplomatic spat between the two countries.

The dispute spilt into public view this week when president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “another vessel” carrying grain “stolen by Russia” had arrived at a port in Israel and was preparing to unload.

“The Ukrainian side is asking its Israeli partners to seize the vessel and its cargo, conduct a search, seize the vessel’s and cargo documentation, take grain samples, and question the crew members,” Ukraine’s prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko said on Telegram on Wednesday.

Ukraine said the cargo vessel Panormitis, sailing under a Panamanian flag, was en route to dock in Haifa.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry also said on Tuesday that since March it had also raised concerns with Israel about another vessel, the Abinsk, which it said was allegedly carrying stolen grain. That ship was allowed to unload and depart despite Kyiv’s objections, it said.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar pushed back against Ukrainian claims that Israel was allowing stolen grain into its ports, accusing Kyiv of engaging in “Twitter diplomacy” and failing to provide evidence that the Russian cargo awaiting entry had been taken from occupied Ukrainian territory.

Saar added that the formal petition, which was submitted by Ukraine on Tuesday, was “now being examined by the relevant authorities”.

Representatives of the vessel’s Greece-based management company also denied it was carrying any grain from occupied Ukraine, saying in a statement to Reuters its cargo was Russian.

Relations between Ukraine and Israel have remained uneasy since Russia’s full-scale invasion, as Israeli leaders have sought to keep channels open with both Kyiv and Moscow – limiting their support for Ukraine largely to humanitarian aid and resisting pressure to supply Israeli-made weapons systems or introduce sanctions against the Kremlin.

Kyiv has repeatedly accused Russia of stealing grain from occupied Ukrainian territory and selling it on international markets.

The Israeli outlet Haaretz reported on Sunday that Israel had been buying grain allegedly looted by Russia from occupied Ukrainian territory for at least two years, though Kyiv had not publicly commented on the issue until this week.

In a statement to Haaretz, an EU spokesperson said the bloc was mulling sanctions on Israeli individuals and entities aiding Russia.

The EU’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Anouar El Anouni, told Haaretz that the European Union “has taken note of the reports that a Russian shadow fleet vessel carrying stolen Ukrainian grain has been allowed to unload at Haifa port in Israel despite previous contacts of Ukraine with Israeli authorities on the subject.”