Vast Amounts of Grain, Equipment Stolen From Ukraine by Russian Forces
Russian forces have reportedly stolen thousands of tons of grain along with equipment from Ukraine’s farms, and are targeting food storage sites with artillery strikes.
As Russian forces tighten their grip in recent weeks on the rich agricultural regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, the trend has intensified, presenting a threat to Ukraine’s harvest this year.
Oleg Nivievskyi, an agrarian specialist at the Kiev School of Economics said that prior to the invasion Ukraine had 6 million tons of wheat and 15 million tons of corn ready for export, mostly held in the south.
Looting on a scale that is being called “simply overwhelming” is reportedly taking place, with an estimated 400,000 tons of grain being stolen to-date. Much of what hasn’t been stolen has been destroyed, such as a Golden Agro grain storage complex near Rubizhne (built only two years ago at a cost of $5 million) which was destroyed on April 14 and burned for two weeks along with the 17,000 tons of wheat and 8.500 tons of sunflower seeds worth $13 million stored there.
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