Kyiv:
Ukraine and Israel, the United States’ two big allies, are locked in a diplomatic row over Kyiv’s allegations that Tel Aviv was importing grains that were allegedly ‘stolen’ by Russia from occupied swathes of Ukrainian agricultural land. Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain producers, has repeatedly accused Russia of illegally exporting agricultural products from territory that is under Moscow’s control since it invaded in February 2022.
Talking to X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote, “Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload. This is not –and cannot be — legitimate business.”
Slamming Tel Aviv’s actions, he said, “The Israeli authorities cannot be unaware of which ships are arriving at the country’s ports and what cargo they are carrying.”
Придбання вкраденого в усіх нормальних країнах є діянням, яке тягне за собою юридичну відповідальність. Це стосується, зокрема, і вкраденого Росією зерна. Ще одне судно з таким зерном прибуло в порт Ізраїлю та готується до розвантаження. Це не є і не може бути чистим бізнесом.…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 28, 2026
“Ukraine counts on partnership and mutual respect with every state. We are genuinely working to enhance security, particularly in the Middle East region. We expect that the Israeli authorities will respect Ukraine and refrain from actions that undermine our bilateral relations.”
Kyiv also summoned Israel’s ambassador on Tuesday to protest over the alleged shipments.
Israel’s Reply
Israel said that Kyiv had not provided evidence to support its claims and rejected that the ship had arrived at the port of Haifa.
“The Ukrainian government has not submitted a request for legal assistance… nor has the Ukrainian government provided evidence for its claims. The vessel has not entered the port and is yet to submit its documents,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a news conference in response to a question.
“It’s not possible to verify the truth of the Ukrainian claims regarding the forgery of the bill of lading,” Saar added, referring to a document showing the details of products being transported.
Hitting out at Kyiv for conducting what he called “Twitter diplomacy”, Saar said, if Ukraine has “any evidence of theft, submit it through the appropriate channels.”
Ukraine’s Allegations and Russia’s Reply
Ukraine has alleged that Russia has stolen more than two million tonnes of grain from occupied territory in 2025. It said it had tracked shipments to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the growing diplomatic spat between Israel and Ukraine was a matter for the two countries to resolve.
“We would rather not comment on this in any way or get involved in this matter,” he told journalists during a briefing on Tuesday
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered a spike in global food prices. The United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea later that year, but Russia later ditched the deal, saying it wanted sanctions relief as part of the accord.
In late 2022, Moscow claimed to have annexed four southern and eastern regions of Ukraine — including major export ports on the Black Sea.