Ukraine says vessel transporting ‘stolen’ grain will not be unloading in Israel

A vessel Ukraine claims is transporting "stolen" grain from its territories under Russian control will not be unloading in Israel, Ukraine’s foreign minister Sybiha said Thursday, chalking this up to Kyiv protesting the situation.

“This is a welcome development that the ‘PANORMITIS’ vessel, which is illegally transporting grain from Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories, will not be unloading in Israel,” Andrii Sybiha said in a statement on US social media company X.

Arguing that this development shows Ukraine’s legal and diplomatic efforts have been effective, Sybiha said this also sends a “clear signal” to all other vessels, as well as governments, to “not buy stolen Ukrainian grain.”

“We continue to track this particular vessel and warn everyone against any operations with it. We will also continue to ramp up international sanctions measures against Russia’s shadow grain fleet,” he added.

Sybiha said Wednesday that his country officially requested action by Israel concerning the vessel, just one day after Kyiv summoned Israel’s ambassador in Ukraine over the issue.

On Monday, Sybiha said that when they summoned the envoy they would voice their protest, adding that that it is “difficult to understand Israel’s lack of appropriate response” to Ukraine’s request concerning a vessel which they earlier accused of transporting “stolen” grain.

“We once again warn Israel against accepting the stolen grain and harming our relations,” Sybiha added.

But Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed Ukraine had not provided evidence of the allegations and also that it had failed to submit a legal request before airing the complaint in public.

“Finally, you submitted the request late last night and now you are following it up with another Tweet,” Saar said later, adding that they were examining the request.

Amid the diplomatic row, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Kyiv is preparing a sanctions package which will cover “both those directly transporting this grain and the individuals and legal entities attempting to profit from this criminal scheme.”

Citing a statement by Israel’s Grain Importers Association, The Jerusalem Post reported earlier Thursday that the company importing the grain had been "forced to turn away" the vessel.

Separately, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said on Telegram that the vessel departed for neutral waters "after Ukraine took a set of procedural measures."