Egypt allows ship with stolen Ukrainian grain to unload despite prosecutor's request – Sybiha

Despite repeated warnings and a formal request from Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, the vessel ASOMATOS was allowed to unload 26,900 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian wheat in Abu Qir, Egypt.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced this on the social media platform X, according to Ukrinform.

He noted that this marks the fourth case since April of Russia laundering stolen Ukrainian grain through Egyptian ports.

The minister added that ASOMATOS was permitted to dock and unload despite the fact that four days ago, Ukraine's prosecutor general formally requested legal assistance from Egypt's Ministry of Justice regarding this illicit cargo, exported by the sanctioned Agro-Frigat via occupied Crimea, and provided all necessary data and legal grounds to seize the vessel and its cargo.

"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. Furthermore, we remind Egypt and all other nations that Ukraine survived a genocide through hunger last century when Moscow ordered grain to be taken away from our people. Now that Moscow again steals our grain, it invokes our worst memories," Sybiha said.

Read also: Sweden confiscates ship with stolen Ukrainian grain – President’s Office calls to scale up this practice

He also called on Egyptian partners to adhere to international law, their commitments to Ukraine, and the principles of bilateral relations.

Goods stolen from occupied territories must be confiscated, not accepted, the minister said, adding that looting is not trade but complicity that fuels further aggression.

As reported, First Deputy Head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service Oleh Luhovskyi said in an interview with Ukrinform that last year Russia exported more than 2 million tonnes of grain from temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, worth about $400 million.

On April 3, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated after a conversation with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that Egypt would no longer accept grain exported by Russia from Ukraine's occupied territories.