Ukraine has lost about 15% of its grain storage capacity since the start of the war with Russia, according to a US report released on Thursday, highlighting the adverse effects on global food security.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, access to silos and other storage spaces has decreased by the Ukrainian authorities, amounting to some 8.5 million tons of grain, according to the estimate of the ‘conflict observatory’, backed by Washington.
Of the roughly 58 million tons of storage capacity in Ukraine, the Russians took control of 6.24 million and 2.25 million were destroyed, the observatory estimates.
These significant losses call into question Ukraine’s ability to maintain its role as a “breadbasket” for many countries, which depend on the Ukrainians for their supply of wheat, corn and sunflowers.
According to the ‘conflict observatory’, supported by the US State Department, this lack of space is creating difficulties for Ukrainian farmers, who are struggling to store their harvest this year and may not be able to plant for next year either. season.
“The damage and seizures by Russia and its allies of Ukraine’s grain storage capacities threaten to turn the current crisis in Ukrainian agriculture into a disaster,” the report’s authors warn.
“Millions of people around the world depend on Ukrainian agricultural products and are directly affected by the sharp rise in prices on the market for essential goods, caused by shortages linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” they add.
The research was contributed by a prestigious unit at Yale University and a laboratory associated with the United States Department of Energy.
The conclusions were obtained through satellite images, analyzed by algorithms that produce estimates on the destruction of facilities, such as silos.
Most of the affected areas are Mykolaiv (south), Zaporizhia (south) and Donetsk (east), and many affected buildings were located near logistics centers, suggesting, according to the report’s authors, that they were deliberately targeted.
“The indiscriminate attack on agricultural storage facilities may constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity under international law,” the ‘conflict observatory’ further underlines.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine has already caused the flight of more than 13 million people -more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.2 million to European countries-, according to the most recent data from the UN, which places this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion -justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security- was condemned by the generality of the international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing Russia since political and economic point of view. sanctions
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 5,827 civilian deaths and 8,421 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
