Grain Scam

Russia has stolen millions of tons of grain from Ukraine and is selling it to other countries. I didn't know this.

Egypt was Russia’s biggest buyer of stolen-grain but is now pledging to buy from Ukraine instead. Bangladesh, Lebanon, Türkiye, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, and Vietnam were some of the other countries buying the stolen wheat.

Grain trafficking is how Putin's been funding his ongoing war on Ukraine. This would be kind of like if the US invaded Venezuela or Iran, stole their oil and/or Uranium and used the sale of that to fund an invasion of Greenland or Canada. Just fer instance.

The dollar amount of the Ukraine’s stolen grain is around $800 million to $1 billion annually! No wonder Pedo idolizes Putin – this is a total dream scam.

To circumvent international sanctions and mask the origin of the grain, Russian exporters used ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in open waters. These operations occurred in the transshipment area near the Port of Kavkaz and involved the use of storage vessels.

This method allowed Russian exporters to avoid docking at ports in occupied Ukrainian territories and reduced the risk of legal repercussions for shipping companies. (source) 

I only mention it but … HELLO … war crime. Yes, I know, we can pile it on top of all of Putin’s other war crimes, like invading Ukraine to begin with.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) can’t prosecute Russia for the crime of aggression (invading another country) because Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute. The ICC set up a special tribunal but that seems, to me – for what that’s worth – nothing more than symbolic. 

Also not on the Rome Statute plan – the US and China. While I’d love to see the bastard before the court, if only for the humiliation factor, Pedo will be six feet under long before a trial comes calling. That ugly orange rodent doesn’t have a lot of time left on his clock. A minute is too much time but, well ... 

Back to Russia’s crop thefts – the stolen grain was shipped to Russia and Crimea, then exported with bogus labels as Russian produce. Sounds like a big Hollywood movie plot, don’t it. Idris Elba, Charlize Theron or Sigourney Weaver would star, right? The eleventy-level plot, the fight scenes, and snappy dialogue would all just kill, wouldn't it! I know, get Aldis Hodge and Beth Riesgraf to team up to foil the evil, thieving, warmongering evildoers. Oh, I seem to be off topic here AGAIN.

 *ahem* 

The Russian cargo ship Avinsk arrived at the Port of Haifa in Israel on April 12. It’s carrying 43,765.18 tonnes (metric ton) of Ukrainian wheat.

The (Ukraine) embassy underscored that it expects all its partners, including Israel, to demonstrate solidarity and uphold the principles of international law and justice.

“We call on the Israeli authorities to thoroughly examine the matter, act in accordance with their international obligations, and ensure that the territory of the State of Israel is not used as a route for the transfer of goods originating from unlawful activities,” the embassy said (source) 

Israel has provided a token amount of support to Kyiv since Russia began its big-ass invasion of Ukraine (February ’22) but they’re not exactly reliable. I expect they’ll be even less so now that they’re busy bombing Lebanon and continuing with their genocide in Gaza. Busy, busy, busy.