On April 28, 2026, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and was handed with a note of protest.

The continued arrival to Israel of agricultural products illegally exported by the Russian Federation from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine was the cause.

The Ukrainian side emphasized that the origin of this grain has been reliably established, and the schemes for its concealment, in particular, "board-to-board" transshipment in the Black Sea, are well known, in particular to the Israeli competent authorities. Despite this, the relevant cargoes continue to reach Israeli ports and enter commercial retail.

It was emphasized separately that the Israeli side's ignorance of Ukraine’s official appeals and requests for international legal assistance, including a request to detain vessels and cargoes, actually creates conditions for the legalization of stolen Ukrainian grain.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not consider these cases as a separate incidents, but as a systemic practice that shows signs of deliberate facilitation of illegal economic activity related to the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories, as well as circumvention of sanctions. We would like to emphasize that this is not just about Israel: the Ukrainian side systematically reacts and counteracts such activities of the Russian Federation across all geographies.

The Ukrainian side also drew attention to the unacceptable dissonance.  Considering Ukraine's support for Israel's security and decisions to counter terrorist threats, in particular those related to Iran, Israel actually allows the import of stolen Ukrainian grain from the Russian Federation.

In this regard, Ukraine demands that the Israeli side immediately take measures to stop the import of stolen grain and prevent its unloading in Israeli ports.

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For reference, the chronology of the actions of the Ukrainian side:

March 23: Meeting of the Ambassador of Ukraine to the State of Israel at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel with the delivering of a note and information about the vessel "ABINSK" and its cargo of stolen Ukrainian grain, emphasizing that any import operations with this vessel are unacceptable.

End of March - first half of April: a series of contacts between the Ambassador of Ukraine to the State of Israel and official representatives of the State of Israel regarding the aforementioned vessel.

April 14: official conversation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, during which the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha appealed to his Israeli colleague not to accept the cargo and the vessel.

April 15 (end of the day): The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Israel has received in working order the materials of the request of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine for international legal assistance and the corresponding court decision on the application of a preventive measure against the vessel "ABINSK" within the criminal proceedings No.42022000000000615.

The aforementioned materials were transferred on the same day to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel by the Embassy's note dated 15.04.2026 No. 6164/22-012-44032- VN.

April 15: the Israeli side completed the unloading of the vessel ahead of schedule and allowed it to leave - despite Ukraine's request not to do so.

April 16: the Ukrainian side repeated the request for international legal assistance and expressed the hope that the unloaded grain would be seized.

Second half of April: additional diplomatic and legal appeals of the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Israel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel, preparation of a lawsuit to the Israeli court in a criminal case regarding stolen grain.

April 20: the only official response to the Ukrainian side's request from the Israel MFA was received so far. Its essence can be reduced to the fact that Israel does not plan to take real measures to stop the illegal trade or arrest the consignments of stolen grain or the ships that transported it, due to the formal denial that the ship left Israel, and it does not recognize the Ukrainian side's evidence as sufficient.

April 25: The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Israel officially informed Israel about another ship, the "PANORMITIS", which was again approaching Haifa with a cargo of grain originating from the occupied territories of Ukraine, and this information was again ignored.

April 27: An official note of protest was prepared with information about the ship and its cargo, with a demand to take measures. The Ambassador of the State of Israel to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, was officially summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

April 28 (morning): Ambassador Michael Brodsky received the aforementioned note at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, and was verbally informed of the contents of the note and Ukraine's position on this issue.

Since April 27: Despite media reports and all actions by the Ukrainian side, the ship is in the Haifa roadstead and is waiting to be unloaded.