Eight ships loaded with wheat have left the occupied port of Mariupol since January 2026, carrying almost 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain to buyers chosen by Russia. That was the count given by the Mariupol City Council in early May.
The council did not soften its language. “The Mariupol seaport has become an element of military logistics and a tool for plundering the occupied territories,” its statement said. It added that grain, metal and other cargo are leaving the port, and that the occupiers want to make it a key logistics hub in the occupied territories.
A plan to 2040
Russian-installed authorities have reportedly drawn up a “development strategy” for the captured port that runs until 2040. Under it, vessels using the port would carry up to 25,000 tonnes. The occupiers themselves put the present range at 3,000 to 10,000 tonnes.
The port is only one piece of a larger trade. Between January and April, 25 vessels from what the report calls the Russian grain fleet made around 50 direct voyages from closed Ukrainian ports in occupied areas to ports in third countries. Most were meant to carry illegal grain cargoes.
The June strikes
Ukraine has since gone after the port directly. On June 5, 2026, strikes destroyed eight fuel storage tanks in the port area and damaged nine more, according to updated assessments the General Staff released on June 9.
A second attack followed. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces said on Facebook that they hit key facilities at the Mariupol Sea Commercial Port, working with the National Guard’s 1st Corps “Azov,” the Security Service of Ukraine and the Special Operations Center “A.” The forces said Russia had used the port for military supply operations and for the illegal export of Ukrainian grain, coal and metals.
The strike damaged energy, repair and administrative buildings, plus facilities that support port logistics. Afterward the port had no electricity, which sharply limited what it could do.
“Russia’s ability to use Mariupol as a logistics hub has been substantially reduced,” the forces said.
Mariupol has been under occupation since 2022 and has become a main Russian staging point for moving personnel and resources across southern Ukraine. Russian occupation authorities have also reportedly cut back passenger transport routes through the city, citing the threat of Ukrainian drones.
Sources
- Ukraine Strikes Occupied Mariupol Port, Knocking Out Russian Logistics Hub
- Russia exports nearly 60000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat from occupied Mariupol port
