The great grain robbery
Cameras catch Russian ships stealing tons of stolen crops from Ukraine
VLADIMIR Putin’s great food heist was caught on camera as two Russia-flagged ships were seen loading stolen Ukrainian grain.
Satellite images showed huge container vessels pouring cereal into their open holds at the port of Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea, where 400,000 tons of stolen Ukrainian crops are said to have been taken.
Moscow is simultaneously blocking Ukraine from exporting its grain and it is feared the resulting global food crisis could trigger more deaths than the war.
Putin has been accused of weaponising the supply chain to blackmail the West into negotiations.
One vessel, the Matros Pozynich, was off the coast of Turkey last night after it picked up its shipment on May 19 before sailing through the Aegean towards Beimyr rut, Lebanon. It was followed by the Matros Koshka two days later on May 21, which appears to be heading towards Russian-occupied territory in the Sea of Azov.
Crimea produces next to no grain of its own, leading experts to suggest that the cargoes had been stolen from Ukraine.
Sources have claimed Russian forces in occupied areas of Kherson and parts of Zaporizhzhia have been emptying grain silos and taking it south to Sevastopol.
The satellite images from Maxar Technologies came after VolodyZelensky accused the invaders of ‘gradually stealing’ his nation’s supplies and trying to sell them abroad.
He said: ‘The world must help Ukraine unblock seaports, otherwise the energy crisis will be followed by a food crisis and many more countries will face it.
‘Russia has blocked almost all ports and all maritime opportunities to export food.’
Britain’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said there ‘could be a lot of hunger and indeed even famine that could dwarf the numbers involved in the war’. Asked if military ships will be sent to end the Black Sea blockade, he said: ‘I can’t go into specific detail, there are a lot of complexities to this.
‘But it’s hard to overestimate how much Ukraine was and is the breadbasket of the world.’
No10 later said the UK had no plans to send Royal Navy warships to the Black Sea but Ukraine’s ambassador to London, Vadym Prystaiko, told TalkTV: ‘We are having this conversation.’ It is feared the blockade could have a devastating effect on Africa, which Polish president Andrzej Duda warned could lead to mass migration to Europe.
He said: ‘If there is hunger in North Africa... both Spain and the whole of southern Europe will have a huge migration problem.’
And Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki compared Putin’s tactics with the Great Famine inflicted by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. He added: ‘Stalin has done this in Ukraine in 1933 already so it’s kind of a tradition for Russia to weaponise wheat...’
The war has triggered a food shortage in Ukraine – making the record-breaking Mail Force fundraising campaign all the more vital. Our incredible readers have donated more than £11.6million, which will help deliver 500,000 food parcels to the warzone.
The joint operation with the Ukrainian embassy in London has already seen people enjoy their first proper meals in months.
‘There could even be famine’