Elena Buturlim18:36, 12/11/23

Russians falsify documents indicating the Russian origin of products, which they then export.

According to official Kremlin data, Russian farmers are harvesting record grain harvests. But behind such indicators of an “unprecedented harvest” agricultural products from the occupied territories of Ukraine may be hidden , writes The Guardian .

Ukrainian officials and experts argue that favorable conditions are not a sufficient reason for high yields in the Russian Federation. According to them, Ukrainian grain is exported under the guise of Russian grain.

“The occupation authorities are plundering Ukrainian grain… not for military operations or to meet the needs of the population, but for selfish purposes and for reasons of personal illegal gain,” the publication writes, citing a statement from the prosecutor’s office in one of the cases against a suspected collaborator.

According to prosecutors and a witness, farms are coming under occupation control in a cruel way, and grain production is allegedly being transferred to Russian companies, in particular, those associated with the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Advisor to the President of Ukraine and Deputy Chairman of the interdepartmental group Task Force UA Vladislav Vlasyuk notes that the Russians have a simple “business model” in the occupied territory of Ukraine. They collect all the grain they can and ship it mostly overland to Russia. Next, the Russians falsify documents indicating the Russian origin of the products, which they then export. The main markets are the Middle East and Africa.

The media writes that more than a fifth of the 29 million tons of grain expected from the last harvest in Ukraine is missing. About 5 million tons could have been stolen by the Russian Federation, and the rest could have been lost as a result of the war.

According to data from the occupied territory, the Russians. and their collaborators used force to confiscate Ukrainian farms.

At the same time, former Ukrainian MP and collaborator Vladimir Saldo created a new company to trade Kherson grain, according to one of the criminal proceedings.

Journalists emphasize that through an intermediary the company sold grain to one of the largest agricultural conglomerates in Russia – United Grain. The majority owner of the conglomerate is the Russian state. But in 2020, two people close to Putin acquired a quarter of his shares through a holding company.

“At the same time, Western states are avoiding introducing total restrictions on Russian food exports, as was done with other goods, such as oil,” the publication points out.

(C)UNIAN 2023