Ukraine plans to appeal to the European Union to impose sanctions on Bangladeshi companies importing wheat that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, partially originates from Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Russia’s systematic theft of Ukrainian grain from occupied territories has become a central feature of its war strategy, with millions of tons looted since 2022. The funds from such shadow operations are used to finance its war machine.
Russian exporters mix legitimate grain with stolen Ukrainian grain and declare it in documents as originating from Russian regions.
“It is a crime,” said Ukraine’s ambassador to India, Oleksandr Polishchuk.
According to intelligence, over 150,000 tons of such grain have already been shipped from the Kavkaz port to Bangladesh. The Ukrainian embassy sent several notes to Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry requesting rejection of shipments containing stolen grain, but the official in Dhaka has ignored these appeals.
In response to the silence, Kyiv is preparing an investigation to share with its partners in the EU, aiming to impose sanctions on companies cooperating with the aggressor.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh states that it “does not import stolen grain” and does not buy wheat from occupied territories, but has provided no actions or evidence to confirm the information.
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