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Ukraine's intelligence discloses classified report by russians on disruption of grain deal
25 July 2023, 10:03
The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine published separate pages of a classified report "on the work of the russian party in the joint coordination centre during the implementation of the Initiative" prepared for the top military and political officials of russia.
Generally, the document focuses on the technologies employed to impede the operation of the grain corridor and ultimately led to the eventual termination of the agreement.
Efforts to disrupt the grain deal were split into several phases. Phase one initiated by the russian president suspended russia's participation in the initiative from October 29, 22 to November 3, 22. According to the document, this resulted in a drop in grain exports from 4.2 million tonnes in October to 2.6 million tonnes in November.
The next stage consisted of measures to restrict vessel access to Pivdennyi port, reduce the number of inspection teams (no more than two), and suspend ship registration.
The russians report that "the lowest volume of food exported from Ukrainian ports (7.8 million tonnes) was during the third phase of the Initiative (from 19 March to 17 July 2023).
Special attention was paid to the disruption of grain supplies under the World Food Programme: "The attempts of Ukraine to use the Black Sea initiative to continue the so-called 'Grain from Ukraine' programme via vessels chartered under the World Food Programme were stopped. The registration of such vessels was carried out only after submission of written commitments not to participate in such campaigns."
The authors of the report conclude: "The accumulated archive of knowledge will allow, when solving similar problems, to achieve a high level of efficiency in the shortest possible time."
Therefore, if the grain deal is extended, the russians will use all the accumulated "experience" to effectively disrupt the agreements.