Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

Israel was warned by European Union against buying grain obtained illegally from occupied Ukrainian territory. EU is also ready to impose sanctions against Israel.

Officials stated that EU is aware that recently a ship belonging to the so-called Russian “shadow fleet” arrived in Israeli city of Haifa to unload a shipment of grain which was taken from Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia with disregard to international law. EU is tracking actions aimed at helping Russian war effort and evade the sanctions imposed by member states. Therefore, the bloc is ready to impose sanctions against individuals and entities involved in such efforts.

The vessel under Panama flag arrived in waters near Haifa carrying the illegal cargo, caused tension in relations between Israel and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in various social media posts that “In any normal country, purchasing stolen goods is an act that entails legal liability,”. A little before this, a heated exchange happened between ministers of foreign affairs of both countries. On Monday Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that evidence for such allegations is yet to be provided and that Ukraine didn’t submit a legal request before taking the issue to social media platforms. This was denied by Ukrainian President, who insisted that his country had used diplomatic channels before making the problem public.

This is not the first such instance, as similar incident occurred before. Furthermore, Israeli news outlet Haaretz found out, after conducting its own investigation, that Israel received 4 such shipments in 2026. The question of these shipments remains a stain in relations between the countries.

According to Ukrainian estimates, at least 15 million tonnes of grain were stolen by Russia since the full-scale invasion started in 2022.