The Lebanese prosecutor on Saturday ordered the arrest of a Syrian-flagged ship that docked at a port in northern Lebanon with a cargo of “stolen” Ukrainian grain, the Kyiv embassy in Beirut reported, AFP reports.

The Ukrainian authorities regularly accuse Russia of stealing the Ukrainian harvest from the territories occupied by it in order to use it for domestic consumption or illegally resell it abroad, AFP reminds.

In Beirut, prosecutor Hassan Weidat ordered police to investigate the Laodicea ship, which was anchored in the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, and to “arrest it until the end of the investigation,” reports AFP. , on condition of anonymity, responsible for justice.

On Thursday, Ukrainian Ambassador to Lebanon Ihor Ostash announced that he met with the President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, to whom he mentioned the “arrival of a Syrian vessel (…) loaded with barley, which is illegally heading from the occupied Ukrainian territories. “

On Friday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib announced on Twitter that he had received “a series of protests and warnings from several Western countries following the arrival of a Syrian-flagged ship loaded with flour and barley.”

According to the first information, the cargo belongs to a Syrian trader and part of it was supposed to be unloaded in Lebanon, and the rest in Syria, the head of Lebanese justice also clarified, citing AFP.

The incident took place in a country in the midst of a total economic collapse and suffering from a wheat shortage, with Lebanese queuing up to receive subsidized bread. 80% of the wheat used in Lebanon is imported from Ukraine.

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