Haaretz: Clandestine operations in the Black Sea are financing the Kremlin’s war machine through the Israeli market.

An in-depth investigation published this week has shed light on a complex smuggling scheme through which Russia is selling grain stolen from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Israel.

Profits from this clandestine operation are reportedly being used directly to finance Vladimir Putin’s war machine. As reported by Haaretz, the cargo ship “Abinsk”, which sails under the Russian flag, recently docked in the port of Haifa loaded with grain worth millions of dollars.

Although apparently a normal ship, the government of Kiev had officially warned the Israeli authorities that the cargo was stolen from the occupied territories. However, despite the warning, the vessel was allowed to unload the cargo in the local market.

Journalistic investigation reveals that this is not an isolated case, but a growing trend. To circumvent international sanctions, Russia has developed a sophisticated cloaking protocol.

The ships do not load at Russian ports, but use ship-to-ship (STS) operations offshore near the Kerch Strait.

According to documents obtained by Haaretz, the shipping vessels turn off their transponders (the AIS system) to become invisible to tracking systems while receiving the grain. from floating barns or smaller ships coming directly from occupied Crimea.

Once loading is complete, they turn on their radios again and report the destination to Israel, presenting false documents as if the wheat originated in Siberia. Another flagrant case documented by satellite images is that of the ship “St.Olga”.

In July 2023, this ship unloaded 27,000 tons of wheat in the port of Ashdod. The Haaretz investigation confirmed through tracking data that the St.Olga had received the cargo offshore from the Russian vessel Matros Pozynich, which was photographed by satellites being loaded at the Avlita terminal in Sevastopol, Crimea.

Ukraine has expressed deep displeasure over this situation. “It is unacceptable for Israel to allow the import of stolen goods” – declared the government of Kiev, emphasizing that at least 15 million tons of wheat have been stolen from Ukrainian farms since the beginning of the occupation.

On the other hand, Israeli buyers defend themselves by saying that it is impossible to verify the exact origin of the product when the Russian documentation looks regular. However, as Haaretz notes, Russian internal logs list over 30 such shipments with a final destination of Israel, confirming that Russian traders are “satisfied with the secrecy of the process”.

So far, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has given an evasive response, asserting only that communications with the Ukrainian side are continuing through diplomatic channels. Meanwhile, another suspicious ship is reported to have arrived in Haifa Bay this Sunday, waiting its turn to unload the “black gold” stolen from the fields of Ukraine. /tesheshi.com/

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Source: prizrenpost