From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Ukraine’s FM amid fight with Israel: We will go after enablers of Russia’s grain theft
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
The war of words between Kyiv and Jerusalem over Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia being sold in Israel continues to escalate.
“We will go after Russia’s shadow grain fleet and its enablers across all geographies,” writes Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X.
Ukraine, says Sybiha, will initiate “new sanctions in the EU, G7, and other jurisdictions on everyone involved in this theft and illegal trade.”
“We warn all entities and nations that we will react strongly to any theft of our grain,” he says.
Earlier today, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed that Israel received Ukraine’s request for legal assistance regarding a vessel waiting to dock in Haifa, which is suspected of carrying grain stolen by Russia from occupied Ukrainian territory, while taking a swipe at Kyiv’s handling of the issue.
In a post on X, Sa’ar said the request was submitted “late last night” after earlier public statements by Ukrainian officials, adding, “One would expect the submission of a legal request before Tweeting. You chose differently, for your own reasons.”
“With all due respect, Your Excellency,” responds Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi, “we expect action, namely for the State of Israel to stop accepting grain stolen from Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories. When such action is taken, we will be most happy to receive relevant messages via X (former Twitter), WhatsApp, Signal, email, paper post, or any other channel of Your Excellency’s convenience.”
To that post, Israel’s own Foreign Ministry spokesman responds on X that Ukraine hasn’t provided evidence to back its claims.
“‘If the law is against you, pound the facts,” writes Oren Marmorstein on X, citing an adage among trial lawyers. “‘If the facts are against you, pound the law. If both are against you, pound the table and yell.'”
“With all due respect, if action is being requested, we expect evidence,” Marmorstein continues. “Not tweets. So far evidence hasn’t been provided.”
“If the law is against you, pound the facts. If the facts are against you, pound the law. If both are against you, pound the table and yell.”
With all due respect, if action is being requested, we expect evidence.
Not tweets.
So far evidence hasn’t been provided. https://t.co/wdlGWYs4ZW— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) April 29, 2026
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