Russian drone manufacturers are exporting grain stolen from Mariupol to Turkey
An investigative report by "Slidstvo.Info" has exposed a large-scale scheme involving the illegal export of Ukrainian grain from occupied Mariupol.
As it turned out, the Russian company “Nika” is involved in the process; its owners also run the company “Roboavia,” which manufactures drones for the aggressor’s army.
According to investigators, between 2023 and 2024, this entity exported over 54,000 tons of wheat to Turkey.
Part of the stolen grain ended up with the Turkish giant Erisler—a company with a century-long history that is an official partner of the UN World Food Programme.
“Nika” began actively trading grain in 2022, rapidly increasing its volumes: while exports to Turkey and Egypt totaled 15,500 tons in 2023, the figure nearly quadrupled in 2024—reaching 59,500 tons.
Customs documents openly list production facilities in occupied Mariupol.
The company “Roboavia,” which is subject to U.S. and Ukrainian sanctions, is formally headed by Roman Gurov and his 75-year-old mother, Lyudmila.
Experts suggest that they are merely nominal owners, as the family has never previously been involved in high technology or UAV production.
The transportation scheme involved delivering grain from Mariupol to Russian ports, specifically Temryuk, from where the cargo was shipped to final recipients in Turkey.
Specifically, in April 2024, a shipment of 7,857 tons was sent via this exact route to the company Erisler Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S.
Adding to the scandalous nature of the situation is the fact that the quality inspection of this shipment took place in Odesa at the laboratory of the international company Cotecna.
An employee of the Ukrainian office, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed working with a sample whose weight matched the Russian customs data to within a kilogram.
Cotecna representatives officially deny any cooperation regarding goods from the occupied territories.
However, the existence of photographic evidence of the sample from the Odessa laboratory casts doubt on the effectiveness of international controls over the origin of agricultural products.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga previously reported that the scale of the plundering of the Ukrainian agricultural sector is colossal.
According to him, in 2025, Russia illegally exported approximately 2 million tons of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea for resale on global markets.
As a reminder, Russian invaders have stolen about 4 million tons of grain from Ukraine.
Additionally, the former head of the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs is trading in stolen Ukrainian grain.
