Russian forces now steal Ukrainian grain by rail — Melitopol Mayor

Russian occupation forces export Ukrainian grain from the occupied territories "at an accelerated pace," now involving ships and railways, says Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov.

According to the mayor, the facts of the grain theft were recorded more than a month ago, but the scale of the thefts was completely different then.

"They took about 20-30 cars of grain a day to the Crimea. Now they began to take out the grain by train. Today Russian forces are transporting everything to the port of Berdiansk to later export the grain by ships and barges. Accordingly, this is a completely different scale of theft. They are already preparing to steal the new harvest, which was planted in the fall," Fedorov said.

At the same time, Russian mass media reported on June 10 that the first echelon of grain had been sent to Russia from the occupied territories of Luhansk Oblast, with 650 tons of cargo shipped from captured Starobilsk.

 According to Ivan Fedorov, it is now necessary to record the scale of the theft by the Russian forces for future compensation.

"I am sure that after the victory of Ukraine, we will definitely claim compensation from Russia for both our farmers and our state," he said.

Earlier, Denys Marchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council, reported that Russia had already stolen about 600,000 tons of products from Ukrainian agricultural enterprises. It is now known that about 100,000 tons of products were shipped to Syria. These facts are recorded by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine and Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

Blockade of Ukrainian seaports

Before the full-scale Russin war, grain from Ukraine helped feed 400 million people worldwide. Now, the supply chain is broken, as the sea export route is inaccessible due to the blockade of Ukrainian ports by the Russian forces. Ukraine has now redirected its exports via rail and road, but they have lower capacity.

The UN says that the blockade of Black Sea ports by Russian forces could provoke a global food catastrophe that will lead to world hunger, mass migration, and political instability. While 22 million tons of grain remain blocked in Ukraine's storage facilities, food prices have already risen in a number of countries influencing the most Africa and Asia.

To address this food crisis, Turkey is preparing a plan with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, and UN officials and is seeking a format of security guarantees to unblock Ukrainian seaports.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says an international naval mission is needed to unblock Ukrainian ports safely. There is also the question of whether the mission will be able to open fire if Russia resorts to provocations.