Ukraine formally asked Israel on Wednesday to intercept a cargo ship it claims is transporting stolen grain looted from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, as the European Union also stepped in with a warning of its own — raising the pressure on Jerusalem from multiple directions simultaneously.
The vessel at the center of the dispute, the Panama-flagged Panormitis, has been anchored off the Israeli port of Haifa carrying what Ukraine says is over 6,200 tonnes of wheat and 19,000 tonnes of barley stolen from occupied Ukrainian territory. According to Ukrainian investigators, the grain was loaded via ship-to-ship transfers in the Black Sea, originating from Russia’s Krasnodar region, with much of the cargo traced back to the occupied Ukrainian city of Berdyansk.
The European Commission condemned all actions that help fund Russia’s war effort and circumvent EU sanctions, and said it was “ready to target such actions by listing individuals and entities in third countries if necessary.” Brussels also confirmed it had directly approached Israel’s Foreign Ministry over the matter.
Another Similar Instance
This was not an isolated incident. Earlier in April, a separate vessel, the Abinsk, delivered nearly 44,000 tonnes of what Ukraine describes as stolen wheat to Haifa, and was allowed to dock, unload, and leave despite Kyiv’s objections. According to an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, at least four such shipments have docked in Israel this year, with deliveries reportedly dating back to 2023 and the total number exceeding 30.
“Twitter Diplomacy”
Ukraine and Israel traded sharp accusations over the affair. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Ukraine of conducting “Twitter diplomacy,” saying allegations were not evidence and that Ukraine had not submitted a formal legal assistance request before going public. Ukraine pushed back, with its Foreign Ministry stating it had exhausted all closed diplomatic channels, and summoning Israel’s ambassador in Kyiv to hand over a formal protest note.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General stated that more than 1.7 million metric tons of agricultural products worth over $450 million have been illegally stolen from occupied Ukrainian territories since Russia’s invasion in 2022. Kyiv is now preparing a sanctions package targeting individuals and companies involved in the shipments, and has called on Brussels to deploy all available instruments — including Frontex — to disrupt Russia’s global sales of plundered grain.
The EU’s ability to act, however, faces a significant hurdle. EU-level sanctions require unanimity among all 27 member states, and securing that unanimity on matters involving Israel has historically proven difficult, with sharp divisions remaining among member states. The episode also lands at an already fraught moment in EU-Israel relations, with ongoing debate about whether to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement over the Israeli military offensive in Lebanon, and an internal EU review having previously found that Israel breached the agreement’s human rights obligations through its conduct in Gaza.
