Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of stealing grain in territory it has occupied, an act which it said increased the threat to global food security posed by disruptions to spring sowing and the blocking of Ukrainian ports during the war.
According to Reuters, when asked about the allegations, the Kremlin said it had no information on the matter.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office said in a separate statement that it had opened a criminal case into allegations that Russian soldiers, threatening violence, had on April 26 taken away 61 tonnes of wheat from an agricultural enterprise in the Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine.
"The looting of grain from the Kherson region, as well as the blocking of shipments from Ukrainian ports and the mining of shipping lanes, threaten the world's food security," said the statement.
Despite a Russian invasion disrupting the entirety of life in Ukraine, the country has managed to sow over 20% of its planned area with agricultural crops, says the Ukrainian government.
During the sowing season 2022, Ukraine sowed 3.02 million hectares of land with the main agricultural crops, which is 20.1% of the 14.4 million hectares planned for the current season, the data on which were adjusted upward by 7.1% the day before (from 13.44 million hectares previously announced), the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food said last week.
According to the Ukrainian government, due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine this season, a reduction in the acreage of high-margin crops (sunflower and corn) is expected while increasing the acreage of crops that are easier to produce, but important in terms of food security – peas, barley and oats.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said on April 20 that Ukraine will sow approximately 14.2 million hectares of agricultural land this season, which is 80% of last year’s figure of 16.9 million hectares.
