Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General has accused Russia's Deputy Minister of Agriculture of organizing the theft of more than 4 million tons of Ukrainian grain from temporarily occupied territories.
According to investigators, the Russian official, acting in collusion with Russian leadership and occupation authorities in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, orchestrated the large-scale appropriation of assets from both state and private agricultural enterprises between the start of Russia's full-scale invasion and December 31, 2023.
The stolen grain, valued at over 23 billion UAH (approximately $580 million), allegedly belonged to major Ukrainian companies including NIBULON, TESSLAGROUP, KERNEL-TRADE, and the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine.
Prosecutors claim the appropriated grain was transported to Russia and occupied Crimea before being exported by sea to countries including Syria, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon, falsely labeled as Russian products.
Ukrainian authorities have formally notified the Russian deputy minister of suspicion under Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code for violating the laws and customs of war, which carries a potential prison sentence of 8 to 12 years.
The Security Service of Ukraine is conducting the investigation, which has previously implicated Russia's Agriculture Minister and another ministry department head.
