Ukraine: Strikes on supermarkets fuel fear of food shortages

Published on: 03/21/2022 – 17:23Modified on: 03/23/2022 – 17:14 The attack which destroyed a shopping center in kyiv on March 20, killing at least eight people, is not the first to aim for an agri-food supply point. Footage shows that since the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, supermarkets have been destroyed, raising fears of a deliberate Russian strategy that could cause shortages. The Retroville shopping center was about ten kilometers northwest of the center of kyiv. Most of the building was destroyed on March 20, as shown in videos released the next day. According to The New York Times, no military equipment or vehicles were found in the rubble. According to Russia, the center served as an arms depot. Aftermath of the attack in Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/cJTjZp0BqC— Paul Ronzheimer (@ronzheimer) March 21, 2022 Video posted to Twitter on March 21, 2022 that shows the remains of the Retroville mall after it was bombed. Photos of the shopping center that can be found on Google Maps and which date from before the strike show that it contained, among other things, agri-food stores, such as a Novus chain supermarket and restaurants. At the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, the center announced that it was temporarily closing but keeping its agri-food stores open, with limited operating capacity. Photo posted on Google Maps in February 2022, which shows the supermarket in the Retroville shopping center. © Google Maps Customers killed In Myla, about twenty kilometers from kyiv, a Megamarket sign was hit by a bombardment, the first week of March, as shown by satellite images. Russia’s deliberate destruction of Ukraine’s food stores and grocery shops is painfully evident from @planet satellite imagery, with large grocery stores destroyed and deliberately targeted. https://t.co/2r4muTDKCu pic.twitter.com/YC70QktvU4— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) March 21, 2022 Satellite images released by Planet showing the destruction of a Megamarket supermarket in Myla. . In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, civilians have been particularly hard hit by Russian strikes. A supermarket was targeted on March 6. Videos posted on Telegram show many people killed and injured outside the sign. Video posted on Telegram on March 6, 2022, showing the destruction of a supermarket in Kharkiv. The ground outside is smeared with blood. Another video filmed just before, and which we have chosen not to publish due to its shocking nature, shows bodies on the ground in the same place. Many supermarkets and refreshment points were destroyed in Kharkiv. The Barabashovo market damaged by a strike in Kharkiv on March 18, 2022. In a post on their Facebook page, the Kharkiv emergency service shows photos of fire in one of the city’s largest shopping malls, caused by a Russian bombardment the 17th of March. Other videos shared online show damaged supermarkets in or around Kharkiv, Chuhuiv. These attacks come as major shortages have already been reported in Ukraine, particularly in Kyiv and Kharkiv. Less than a week after the start of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry already estimated that 40,000 people in the east of the country already lacked an adequate supply of food. Ukraine was forced to close its ports and stop its imports, especially of food. Supermarket employees have mobilized to continue to ensure the sale of food products despite the situation. The World Food Program began distributing aid on March 4 in Ukraine and among refugees. Other international organizations are mobilized for this purpose.