Russia steals Ukrainian grain and coke through ports in Berdyansk and Mariupol

The Russians have turned the ports in Berdyansk and Mariupol into real pirate bases. The Russians are exporting Ukrainian grain and raw materials from temporarily occupied ports in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions to Turkey and Algeria. Russia has turned the Sea of ​​Azov into a pirate harbor. This was reported by the head of the public association “Center for the Study of Occupation” Petro Andryuschenko.

He emphasized that the Russian scheme to plunder Ukrainian grain and raw materials continues under new flags, but with old ships.

In September-October 2025 alone, three ships associated with Russian shipowners illegally exported more than 18 thousand tons of Ukrainian grain and metallurgical coke from the occupied ports. The ships used fictitious documents from the Russian port of Temryuk.

The ship “Victoria V” (IMO 9454125) loaded over 5.5 thousand tons of wheat in Mariupol on September 17-23. Without real customs control, it “cleared” the cargo in Temryuk, and already in early October it delivered it to the Turkish port of Marmara.

The ship “Irkutsk” (IMO 9419084) loaded over 7 thousand tons of grain in Berdyansk on September 20-23. The route is identical – fictitious clearance in Temryuk, and arrival in Marmara is already on October 7.

The ship “Leonid Pestrikov” (IMO 9922122) loaded over 6 thousand tons of metallurgical coke in Mariupol on September 23-26. Officially, the papers were cleared in Temryuk, after which the ship set off for Algeria, to the port of Annaba.

“Three ships, three directions, one scheme. Mariupol and Berdyansk have been turned into pirate harbors of the 21st century,” Andryuschenko emphasized.

The Russian government has added the ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol to the list of “open to foreign vessels”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemned the decision of the Russian government. Ukraine called on its partners to introduce additional tough sanctions against all Russian individuals and legal entities, foreign companies, in case of their involvement in commercial activities in the seaports of Berdyansk and Mariupol, as well as vessels calling at ports in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.