August M
Ukraine has accused Egypt of helping facilitate the trade of grain taken from occupied Ukrainian territories after a ship carrying what Kyiv described as stolen cargo was allowed to unload at an Egyptian port.
The dispute marks the latest diplomatic clash over agricultural exports that Ukrainian officials say Russia has seized and redirected through international shipping networks since the start of the full-scale invasion, reports The Kyiv Independent.
Growing dispute
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Egypt permitted the vessel Asomatos to unload 26,900 tons of grain at the port of Abu Qir despite objections from Kyiv.
According to Sybiha, Ukraine had formally appealed to Egypt’s Justice Ministry four days earlier, providing documentation and legal arguments seeking the seizure of both the cargo and the ship.
Kyiv described the incident as the fourth reported case since April involving the acceptance of grain that Ukraine says was taken from territories occupied by Russian forces.
“Ukraine is a country that has played the role of a reliable food security guarantor for Egypt for many years — and we don’t understand why Egyptian partners pay us back by continuing to accept stolen Ukrainian grain,” Sybiha wrote.
Appeal to Cairo
The Ukrainian foreign minister urged Egyptian authorities to respect international law and previously made commitments between the two countries.
“We urge our Egyptian partners to uphold international law, their own promises made to us, and the principles of our bilateral relations. Stolen goods from occupied territories must be seized, not accepted. Looting is not trade, and complicity only fuels further aggression,” Sybiha said.
In his message, the minister also referenced the Holodomor, the Soviet-era famine that killed millions of Ukrainians after grain and food supplies were confiscated under Stalin’s rule.
Sybiha drew parallels between those events and what Ukrainian officials describe as Russia’s current seizure of agricultural products from occupied regions.
International pressure
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of running organised grain export operations from occupied territories in violation of international law.
Kyiv argues that countries receiving such shipments may also be breaching their own legal obligations by permitting the cargo to enter domestic ports.
The latest criticism follows a separate incident in late April when Israel refused entry to a vessel reportedly carrying stolen Ukrainian grain, a move widely viewed in Kyiv as a diplomatic success after another ship had earlier been allowed to unload at an Israeli port.
Sources: Kyiv Independent, statements by Andrii Sybiha
