Russian media is spreading information that the West, especially Great Britain, is forcing the Ukrainian authorities to create a food shortage, possibly another holodomor, and blaming Russia for it.
Holodomor refers to the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33 as a result of Soviet policy.
They say that Ukraine is planning to export to England the remains of agricultural products stored in the state reserve. Russian media argue that agricultural exports to Europe could cause famine in Ukraine.
it is not true; Nor is it a claim that exports of agricultural products to Europe will cause famine. However, Russia may have military action in Ukraine. As for exports of agricultural products, these are from last year’s crop, which, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shyamal, was higher and thus planned to be exported by August. Ukraine’s Minister of Agriculture Policy and Food, Mykola Solsky, expressed the same opinion. According to him, last year’s crop has 20 million tonnes.
This means money for farmers which they use for sowing, rent and other needs. Even a partial resumption of exports is extremely important as it ensures the flow of funds for the sowing campaign: for the purchase of diesel fuel, seeds, fertilisers, plant protection products and payment of wages.
A US official has said Russians have damaged at least six granaries in Ukraine. These are deliberate actions of the Russian Federation because granaries do not pose any threat to them. We are talking about food security not only in Ukraine but all over the world. According to the US State Department, the Russian Navy is intercepting more than 90 civilian ships in the Black Sea region that were supposed to transport grain and other food items. Russia has already bombed at least three civilian ships carrying goods from Black Sea ports around the world, including one chartered by an agricultural company. As a result, this could negatively affect the food sector in Europe itself as the Black Sea region accounts for about 30 percent of the world’s wheat exports, plus 20 percent of corn and 75 percent of vegetable oil.
According to Human Rights Watch, the food crisis in the Middle East and North Africa has already worsened due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Notably, Lebanon gets 80 percent of its wheat from Ukraine, Egypt buys wheat as well as large quantities of vegetable oil, Libya imports more than 40 percent of its wheat from Ukraine, Yemen at least 27 percent. In addition, northwestern Syrian authorities provide the region with wheat and flour procured through Turkey, which imports 90 percent of its wheat from Ukraine.
Due to the blockade of ports, Ukraine began to export grain to the European Union by rail. Traders have already made the first deliveries of Ukrainian corn to EU countries. That is, Ukraine is doing everything possible not only to prevent the food crisis within the country, but also to ensure supplies to other countries whose well-being depends on Ukrainian agricultural products. Therefore, complications of the situation are possible only as a result of military action and aggression of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine.
(The author is a former Ukrainian diplomat turned journalist based in Warsaw, Poland)