How Russia sabotages grain deal: Ukrainian military intelligence intercepted secret report
Military intelligence intercepted secret report on the disruption of the grain deal by Moscow (Photo: Getty Images)
According to the publication of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, a closed final report titled "On the Work of the Russian Part of the Joint Coordination Center during the Implementation of the Initiative" was prepared for the higher military and political leadership of Russia. The document focuses on the technologies used to obstruct the functioning of the grain corridor, ultimately leading to a complete breakdown of the agreement.
According to the report, the so-called "joint coordination center" saw its main task as reducing the volume of grain exported within the "grain deal."
The document states: "The qualitative inspection of vessels was also one of the key elements to restrain the uncontrolled growth of grain exports from Ukrainian ports. The activities of Russian inspectors strictly followed the developed methodological documents for organizing vessel inspections. As a result of these inspections, 46 vessels were restricted from participating in the Initiative, and the movement of 303 vessels was limited for a total period of 342 days."
The measures to disrupt the "grain agreement were divided into several stages," as indicated by the Main Intelligence Directorate. The first stage, initiated by the Russian president, involved Russia's suspension of participation in the "grain agreement" from October 29, 2022, to November 3, 2022. This led to a decrease in grain exports from 4.2 million tons in October to 2.6 million tons in November. The next stage included actions such as limiting vessel access to the port of Pivdennyi, reducing the number of inspection teams (no more than two), and halting the registration of grain carriers.
These measures allowed the Russians to "effectively limit the number of vessels heading to Ukrainian ports and significantly reduce the volume of food exports from Ukraine," ultimately making it impossible for Kyiv to export about 20 million tons of cargo. According to the report, the "smallest amount of food exported from Ukrainian ports, 7.8 million tons, occurred during the third stage of the Initiative (from March 19 to July 17, 2023)."
Special attention was given to the disruption of grain deliveries under the World Food Program: "Attempts by Ukrainians to use the Black Sea initiative to continue the so-called 'Grain from Ukraine' program with vessels chartered by the World Food Program were halted. Registration of such vessels was only allowed after providing written commitments not to participate in such actions."
In conclusion, the authors of the report state: "The accumulated archive of knowledge will allow achieving a high level of efficiency in solving similar tasks in the shortest possible time."
Thus, in the event of the continuation of the "grain deal," the Russians will utilize all the accumulated "experience" to efficiently disrupt the agreements.
"The document indicates that all actions to disrupt the 'grain agreement' are part of a pre-designed plan. The deliberate shelling of Ukrainian port infrastructure is just another step in its implementation," the Main Intelligence Directorate message stated.
Grain deal
Last week, Kremlin announced its withdrawal from the "grain deal," which had been in effect for a year and allowed for the safe export of Ukrainian food from Black Sea ports.
Following the exit from the "grain deal," Russia has been launching nightly attacks on southern Ukraine. Among these attacks are missile strikes on Odesa and its region.
Furthermore, on the night of July 24th, Russian forces attacked the river port of Reni on the Danube, near the border with Romania.
As a result, world wheat prices have reached their highest level in five months.
