Russia is implementing measures in occupied Ukrainian regions that will allow it to export stolen agricultural products, including grain, to China, Ukraine's National Resistance Center reported on July 8.
So far, Russia has been disguising stolen Ukrainian grain as its own harvest and exporting it to Syria and Turkey, the National Resistance Center said.
The Russian software tools are able to automate the process of collecting and analyzing information on agricultural products, which can then be exported outside the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
“The introduction of these programs will allow it to expand the geography of looted exports, in particular to China,” the National Resistance Center alleged.
In mid-May 2018, China and the EEU member states agreed to cut trade barriers.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russia of stealing grain from the occupied territories since last year.
Russian cargo ships have been spotted several times loading stolen agricultural products in the occupied port city of Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Local farmers are reportedly coerced into selling grain at low prices. If farmers refused to sell their products, Russian forces would confiscate the stocks.
Ukraine is one of the world's leading grain producers and exporters. Its supplies feed countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
When Russia unleashed its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it blocked or occupied all of the country's seaports.
Although Turkey and the U.N. brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2022 to ensure the transit of Ukraine grain, Russia has repeatedly attempted to sabotage the deal, and a looming global food crisis persists.
Oleg Sukhov
(Updated: )
