By taking Ukrainian grains, Russia is attempting to maintain its nearly bankrupt economy at the expense of that nation. The strengthening of Western sanctions against the Kremlin coincided with the rapid collapse of the Russian economy. Putin decided to engage in one of his preferred strategies, looting, which is a well-known characteristic of Russian policy. To improve is the economic situation, Russia has been targeting the Ukrainian grain, Channel 24 reported.
Since the start of the war against Ukraine, Russians have stolen and transported hundreds of thousands of tons of grain worth more than $500,000,000 from the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk areas. The Kremlin uses the money it receives from the illicit sales of Ukrainian grain not even for its people but instead for the war with Ukraine.
The second stage of Crimean grain exports has just started. The reason why international leaders haven’t already banned Russia’s trade routes’ whole transport network is still a mystery.
The New Criminal Plans from the Moscow
It appears that Russia is once more searching for openings and chances to put its plans to sell grain stolen from Ukraine into action. Russia has resumed exporting grain from the Crimean peninsula, claims a Crimean source who wished to remain anonymous.
In the Luhansk region, Russians are currently emptying the elevators and utilizing trucks to transport grain to the ports of Sevastopol, Feodosiya, and Kerch. Grain is then loaded onto ships from there.
Bulk carriers turn off their radars as soon as they enter Crimean ports, making it impossible for vessel tracking programs like Marine Traffic or Equasis to follow them.
The source further said that from September 30 to October 4 one vessel by the name of “POMPANO” made its way from the Kerch Commercial Sea Port to the port of Eren, Turkey.
You may follow the history of this ship using the ship monitoring website.
The map shows the location of “POMPANO”, it is in a Turkish port in Eren.
Ukrainian grain export routes utilised by Moscow
You can also view a timeline of the seaport visits made by this vessel.
We can observe that the ship arrived at the Russian Federation-controlled port of (RUZZZ) on September 26 but that information about this port was either hidden or removed. The ship remained there for a day and a half, which was long enough to load a bulk carrier with between 100 and 120 thousand tons of grain.
The ship then docked at Taman, one of the Russian Federation’s most rapidly developing grain terminals on the Black Sea, which offers a comprehensive range of services related to the transshipment of grain cargo.
The bulk tanker may have loaded some of the stolen grain in one of the Crimean ports and added to the load in Taman, according to analysts.
Bulk carriers, such as the ship “POMPANO,” are designed for the transportation of bulk commodities like grain, coal, ore, and cement. Russia is permitted to freely export natural resources from the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in addition to grain.
Why Does Russia Still Have a Trading Corridor?
Although many of the words seem to be trustworthy, this is not the case. In addition to restricting political and economic activities, sanctions implemented on Russia should also apply to areas where it is anticipated that seaports and airports will be shut down.
Ports where Russian ships are still permitted to enter freely. A lot of cargo ships are sailing from the Azov Sea to Turkey, according to data from the Marine Traffic Monitoring.
Cases have already been made public when Russia shipped grain to Turkey from the Ukrainian territories it has seized. For instance, consider the June 2022 delivery of 27,000 tons of grain to the city of Eskenderun by the dry cargo ship Mikhail Nenashev (Turkey).
While Europe works to defend Ukraine politically and militarily, some nations and businesses are engaging in double-dealing and seeking solely short-term gains without considering long-term implications.
Up until February 24, 2022, Ukraine was one of the biggest wheat exporters and fed more than 400 million people globally.
Holodomor also started with grain confiscation in Ukraine
The expropriation of grain is connected to the Soviet Union’s 1930s policy of grain confiscation in Ukrainian rural areas, which resulted in the deaths of between 4 million and 10 million people in Ukraine as a result of the Soviet government’s actions that sparked the Holodomor, recognised by many states as genocide of Ukrainian people.
Russian propaganda functions in accordance with its regular methodology—it first creates a problem before attempting to assign blame. As a result, Russia seeks to exert influence while blaming sanctions and the European Union for everything.
The deliberate destruction of food and agricultural infrastructure, especially small farms, as well as the theft of Ukrainian grain are tactics that Russia is using in Ukraine today that are reminiscent of those the KGB used in the 1930s.
Along with its oil assets, Russia is also utilizing food as a weapon in this conflict. the diversion of grain supply and restriction of grain exports to generate world famine in an effort to exert pressure on everyone, notably the EU and Ukraine.
In order to put an end to Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, avert further humanitarian tragedy, and decrease global hunger, Ukraine calls on the international community to denounce Russia’s actions, demand that it withdraw from Ukrainian land, and tighten economic sanctions against Moscow.
