The Security Service of Ukraine has identified collaborators involved in the illegal export of 650,000 tons of Ukrainian grain worth more than $200 million from the temporarily occupied territories.
This was reported by the SBU press service.
"Ukraineʼs special service established the entire chain of those involved: starting with the traitors who signed permits for the export of grain, and ending with all the crew members of 10 ships of the Russian Federation on which the loot is transported," the special service said.
The following persons were informed about a suspicion:
- Yevhenii Balytskyi, the head of the Russian occupation administration in the captured part of Zaporizhzhia oblast;
- Oleksandr Saulenko — the self-proclaimed mayor of the city of Berdiansk;
- Volodymyr Stelmachenko — the self-proclaimed director of Berdiansk seaport.
In addition, the court seized property (including four small aircraft located in Kyiv oblast) and corporate rights belonging to Balytskyi and his family, for a total amount of more than UAH 149 million.
The SBU established that the collaborator Balytskyi issued an "order" based on which a temporary administration was introduced in the occupied territories. As a result, the property of 7 agro-industrial complexes and grain terminals on the territory of Zaporizhzhia oblast were illegally transferred to the pseudo-enterprise "State Grain Operator".
In addition, pseudo-mayor Saulenko, together with the "director" of the Berdiansk sea trade port Stelmachenko, helped to steal grain from warehouses and load it onto the ship "Zhibek Zholy" under the flag of the Russian Federation.
The operatives also documented the removal by sea transport of Ukrainian grains stolen from the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts through sea ports and terminals located in occupied Crimea.
In this activity, the Russian side involved sea vessels under the flags of the Russian Federation and Syria: "Nadezhda", "Sormovsky-48", "Fedor", "Matros Koshka", "Matros Pozynych", "Zhibek Zholy", "St. Konstantin", "Mikhail Nenashev", "LAODICEA".
However, according to the SBU, the illegal shipment of the stolen wheat was prevented. In particular, the Ukrainian court seized the indicated vessels and grain products. Also, Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon refused and refuse to accept and unload the mentioned sea vessels.
The operatives of the Security Service identified 5 more foreign sea vessels that illegally export grain from the sea ports of the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, and which are planned to be arrested.
Within the framework of international cooperation with the law enforcement agencies of the USA, Turkey, Lebanon and other countries, a joint investigation is underway to establish all the circumstances of the offense, including the arrest of sea vessels transporting stolen Ukrainian grain in their ports of destination.