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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Sunday that his government is working to facilitate shipments of agricultural goods to Syria, which is now governed by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Until HTS took Damascus last week, Syria was a top recipient of Russian-supplied grain stolen from occupied Ukrainian territories; with the ouster of Russian-backed president Bashar al-Assad, Russia's grain-theft bulkers have halted mid-voyage and are not expected to deliver their cargoes. <\/p>\n
During HTS' short and decisive offensive against the Assad regime, Ukraine weighed in on the militant group's behalf, aiming to deal Russia a strategic failure in the eastern Mediterranean. Russian intelligence official Alexander Lavrentyev complained about the presence of Ukrainian operatives on the ground; Ukraine's secret service, the GUR, reportedly provided drone surveillance assistance to HTS units during the push to the capital. <\/p>\n
With Assad gone, and with his Russian backers all but ejected, HTS must now govern on its own – with few resources, and with a terrorist-group designation clouding its ability to cooperate with the West. In this context, bulkers of corn and wheat from the "Grain from Ukraine" program could help alleviate potential food shortages in Syria's devastated economy. <\/p>\n
\nWhere is Russia going to sell the grain it steals from Ukraine?<\/p>\n
Grain thief Matros Pozynich, not sure where to go after the fall of Syria<\/p>\n
Although her destination says Beirut, she almost always goes to Tartus to unload her stolen cargo@exit266<\/a> @YorukIsik<\/a> @kattyfun1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/RHCfn8bZqz<\/a><\/p>\n