DISINFO: The EU kept most of the ships with Ukrainian grain, only 2 went to developing countries
SUMMARY
Most of the grain shipments that left Ukraine thanks to a negotiated agreement with Russia through Turkey and UN mediation went to the EU. Only 2 of the 87 ships went to poor and developing countries.
RESPONSE
The claim is demonstrably false. According to information from the United Nations (archived here) on 08 September 2022 - one day after this disinformation allegation was made - the actual number of ships carrying Ukrainian grain under the UN-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative was 103, although the destination of one was still undecided. The far majority, 68% went to countries outside the EU. 39 ships going to Turkey, 8 to Egypt, 4 to Israel, 3 to South Korea, 3 to China, 3 to India, 2 to Lebanon, 2 to Iran, 1 to Sudan, 1 to Djibouti, 1 to Yemen, 1 to Kenya and 1 to Somalia. 33 ships had gone or were headed to EU countries, Besides, this doesn’t mean that these are their final destinations, as grain will be redistributed from some of these harbours to other countries.
This false allegation goes in line with a wider pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign aiming to blame Western countries for a global food crisis engineered by Russia as part of its unjustified aggression against Ukraine. See other similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Western sanctions cause food crisis and price growth, that the food crisis has nothing to do with the Russian special operation, that Russia places no obstacles on the export of Ukrainian grain, or that Kyiv burned grains in Mariupol and mined the Black Sea to prevent its exportation.