On April 28, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador Michael Brodsky and handed him a note of protest. The reason is that grain exported by Russia from the occupied territories of Ukraine continues to arrive in Israel.
This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The agency says the origin of this grain is known, as are the schemes for disguising it — including transshipment of ships in the Black Sea. Despite this, the cargoes reach Israeli ports and are sold.
Ukraine also claims that Israel ignores its appeals and requests, for example, about the detention of ships with such grain. The department believes that these are not isolated cases, but a systematic practice that helps Russia circumvent sanctions. This is not only about Israel, Russia repeats a similar practice with other countries.
"Such cargoes were sent to Turkey, Egypt, Algeria and some other countries. These are just the cases that I can recall from memory that happened earlier. Several ships are currently transporting stolen grain. One is heading to Egypt, and the other to Algeria. We see this and will react appropriately, not only in relation to Israel," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi at a briefing for journalists.
The Foreign Ministry also emphasized the contradiction: Ukraine supports Israelʼs security, while at the same time it allows the import of stolen Ukrainian grain. Ukraine demands an immediate halt to its import and unloading at Israeli ports.
What preceded
On April 26, the Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported that the Panormitis ship carrying grain allegedly stolen from the occupied territories of Ukraine had arrived in the bay of the Israeli city of Haifa and was awaiting permission to enter the port. In total, according to Haaretz, four ships have unloaded stolen Ukrainian grain in Haifa since the beginning of 2026.
Because of this, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also stressed that the Foreign Ministry had already appealed to Israel on April 15 regarding a similar ship that had delivered grain to Haifa, but there was no sufficient response to the incident. At that time, Israel informed Ukraine that it was too late to detain the Russian ship, as it had already left the port of Haifa.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded to Sybihaʼs post in X, saying that "diplomatic relations are not conducted on Twitter". He also claimed that Sybiha "did not file a request for legal assistance before turning to the media and social media".
The EU is considering imposing sanctions against Israel for purchasing grain, and Ukraine is ready to make similar decisions.
- Russia illegally exported approximately 2 million tons of Ukrainian grain in 2025 and sold it on foreign markets, Minister Sybiha said during the Black Sea Security Conference.
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