Russian forces create criminal cartel for transporting Ukrainian grain out of Crimea, reselling it in Middle East - Ukrainian Ambassador in Lebanon 

He told Espreso about this.

Ihor Ostash commented on his statement regarding the existence of a criminal system for the export of Ukrainian grain, in which about 87 vessels are involved.

"This is really a criminal cartel, which was created by the Russian occupation forces and Russian business, and on the other hand, the Syrians are involved, who also provide their ships. Among those 87 ships, there are three Syrian ones. They are trying to transport grain from Crimea, excluding AIS (automatic identification system -  Ed.), are loaded in Sevastopol, Feodosia, Kerch, but show other ports of departure, for example, Caucasus, Rostov. In this way, they cover their tracks and do not turn on their navigation beacons for 10 days. Accordingly, it is already clear that this is an illegal activity," explained the ambassador.

Ostash noted that further they are trying to resell grain to various countries of the Middle East, they had attempts to sell to Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, but most of these attempts failed.

The diplomat said: "The entire week was an epic with the Syrian ship Laodicea, which loaded in Feodosia, but showed the port of departure Caucasus and fake documents, trying to sell the cargo through a Turkish company. And when we looked at this Turkish company, we saw that its owner is a Syrian businessman. This is a clear scheme that we are now fighting."

Ihor Ostash added that preparations are currently underway for the arrival of another vessel SV KONSTANTIN, which declared Beirut as the port of arrival.

"We have started working with the Lebanese authorities regarding this vessel that was loaded with stolen grain in Sevastopol. This vessel was detained for some time in Izmir (Turkey), so we are in contact with the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, and the Turkish ambassador in Lebanon. We are trying to track such devices and are waiting for the arrival of another ship with stolen grain. That is, everyone is on high alert," the ambassador of Ukraine in Lebanon emphasized.