Bangladeshi entities are importing wheat taken from Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, and Dhaka has failed to stop the โillegal tradeโ despite being warned, Ukrainian officials say.
It now plans to ask the European Union to sanction the entities.
Ukraine’s ambassador to India, Oleksandr Polishchuk, told Reuters that Dhaka had not responded to the communication and Kyiv will now escalate the matter as its intelligence showed entities in Russia mix grain procured from occupied Ukrainian territories with Russian wheat before shipping.
“It’s a crime,” Polishchuk said. “We will share our investigation with our European Union colleagues, and we will kindly ask them to take the appropriate measures.”
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Ukraine’s diplomatic tussle with Bangladeshi authorities has not been previously reported. The Bangladesh and Russian foreign ministries did not respond to requests by Reuters for comment.
A Bangladeshi Food Ministry official said the country does not import from Russia if the origin of the grain is from occupied Ukrainian territory.
Experts say EU sanctions could disrupt Bangladeshโs wheat supply chain, as it was the fourth-largest buyer of Russian wheat in May 2024.
With wheat being a staple food, any disruption could lead to price hikes and food insecurity, exacerbating Bangladeshโs existing economic challenges, including high import costs and inflation pressures noted as early as 2022.
The June 11 letter from Ukraine warned of “serious consequences,” including sanctions that could target not only companies but also government officials and ministry leaders who facilitate the trade, potentially straining Bangladeshโs governance and trade infrastructure.
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The lack of response from Dhaka to Ukraineโs letters has already escalated tensions, marking the first public diplomatic rift between the two nations over the grain trade.
Sanctions could further strain Bangladeshโs relations with the EU, a key market for its ready-made garment exports, which accounted for USD 550 million in trade with Russia in FY2021.
This could also complicate Bangladeshโs balancing act in maintaining non-alignment amid global geopolitical tensions.
Geopolitical risks
Bangladeshโs continued trade with Russia, despite warnings, risks aligning it closer to Moscow in the eyes of Western nations, potentially inviting broader sanctions or diplomatic isolation.
The EUโs existing sanctions on Russiaโs “shadow fleet” of 342 vessels indicate a willingness to expand restrictive measures, and any proven involvement of Bangladeshi entities in the grain trade could lead to targeted sanctions.
This could also affect projects like the Russian-backed Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, potentially leading to delays and cost escalations.
How did it happen?
Russian forces have occupied large parts of Ukraine’s southern agricultural regions since 2014 and Kyiv has accused Russia of stealing its grain even before the 2022 invasion. Russian officials say there is no theft of grain involved as the territories previously considered part of Ukraine are now part of Russia and will remain so forever.
According to documents provided to Reuters by people familiar with the matter, the Ukraine Embassy in New Delhi sent several letters to Bangladesh’s foreign affairs ministry this year, asking them to reject more than 150,000 tonnes of grain allegedly stolen and shipped from Russian port of Kavkaz.
Amid the war with Russia, the agricultural sector remains one of the main sources of export earnings for Ukraine, supplying grain, vegetable oil and oilseeds to foreign markets.
In April, Ukraine detained a foreign vessel in its territorial waters, alleging it was involved in the illegal trade of stolen grain, and last year seized a foreign cargo ship and detained its captain on similar suspicions.
The EU has so far sanctioned 342 ships that are part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, which the bloc says enable Moscow to circumvent Western restrictions to move oil, arms and grain. Russia says Western sanctions are illegal.
A Ukraine official told Reuters Ukrainian law prohibits any voluntary trade between Ukrainian producers, including grain farmers in the occupied territories, and Russian entities.
The Ukraine Embassy has sent four letters to Bangladesh’s government, reviewed by Reuters, in which it shared vessel names and their registration numbers involved in the alleged trade of moving the grain from the Crimean ports of Sevastopol and Kerch, occupied by Russia since 2014, and Berdiansk, which is under Moscow’s control since 2022, to Kavkaz in Russia.
The letters stated the departure and tentative arrival dates of the ships that left from Kavkaz for Bangladesh between November 2024 and June 2025.
The June 11 letter said Bangladesh can face “serious consequences” of sanctions for taking deliveries of “stolen grain”, and that such purchases fuel “humanitarian suffering.”
The sanctions “may extend beyond importing companies and could also target government officials and the leadership of ministries and agencies who knowingly facilitate or tolerate such violations,” the letter added.
In a statement to Reuters, Anitta Hipper, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the vessels in question were not currently subject to any restrictive measures.
The sanctions regime was designed to act against activities that undermine the food security of Ukraine including transportation of “stolen Ukrainian grain” and “any proven involvement of vessels in shipping stolen Ukrainian grain could provide the basis for future restrictive measures,” she added.
The Russia-controlled territories, excluding Crimea, accounted for about 3% of the total Russian grain harvest in 2024, according to Reuters’ estimates based on official Russian data. Russian grain transporter Rusagrotrans says Bangladesh was the fourth largest buyer of Russian wheat in May.
Ambassador Polishchuk told Reuters their intelligence shows Russia mixes its grain with that from occupied Ukrainian territories to avoid detection.
A Russian trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that when the grain is loaded for export at a Russian port, it is very difficult to track its origin.
“These are not diamonds or gold. The composition of impurities does not allow for identification,” the person said.
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