Russia is “setting fire” food to the world. Ukraine is not the only one to suffer from hunger TVNOVINY.sk – TVNOVINY.sk

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been going on for 103 days and more and more countries are beginning to feel its impact. In addition to inflation and the refugee crisis, famine may soon add to the global consequences of Russia’s aggression. Ukraine was one of the leading exporters of grain, which it imported mainly to African or Asian countries. According to leading Ukrainian officials, the Russians are changing the strategy of the fight, and are also attacking farm buildings, agricultural machinery, grain and food warehouses, farms and oil storage facilities. In addition, they block grain exports and steal Ukrainian forces. This is causing a sharp rise in food prices, not only in Europe. Developing countries will soon not be able to afford this, leading to a food and humanitarian crisis. The Kremlin’s aggression can kill people thousands of kilometers from Ukraine. During the recent attacks (May 5), Russian forces in Mykolaiv hit residential buildings and also caused a large-scale grain warehouse fire that burned almost to the ground. The Ukrainian government claims that the Russians have already stolen at least 400,000 tons of grain from the temporarily occupied cities. They also stopped the operation of poultry farms and destroyed or robbed several food warehouses, which were also intended for export. “Obviously, they want people to starve,” the official ukraine.ua website said. Before the war, about 5-7 million tons of cereals a month went through Ukrainian ports. Ukraine was responsible for 16 percent of the world’s corn exports, 10 percent of barley, 9 percent of wheat and 42 percent of sunflower oil, according to Euractiv. African countries and the countries of South Asia are mainly dependent on Ukrainian cereals. This loss will lead to higher market prices, which are already more expensive due to high energy and fuel prices. The first major problems are reported by the inland African state of Chad. Due to the shortage of cereal stocks caused by the war in Ukraine declared a food crisis. International humanitarian aid is already needed for the country, the local government said, according to the DPA agency. The UN says 5.5 million people in Chad will need food aid this year, a third of the population. Europe has no solution yet The humanitarian catastrophe in African countries will cause another wave of refugees in Europe. EU leaders are therefore trying to find a way to support the export of Ukrainian cereals. As many as 90 percent of crops were routinely exported from the ports of Mariupol and Odessa before the war. As Mariupol is in the hands of Russian forces, it is no longer logistically available. Odessa is afraid she is next in line. Nevertheless, one of the options is to export cereals through this port, if a humanitarian corridor can be agreed with Russia. As Russia demands the lifting of all sanctions, the EU will never agree, as this would allow for full financing of the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian grain will not be able to be transported through Belarus either, because President Alexander Lukashenko is cooperating with Vladimir Putin and thus supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Hope from Australia The country where cereals have grown in recent years is Australia. The country’s leaders hope it could at least partially address the global wheat shortage. Australian farmers have planted the highest amount of wheat in history this year. Last year, Australia was the world’s largest exporter of this cereal, and in 2022 it will manage to grow even more, Reuters reports. “I think Australia has a good chance of producing more than thirty million tonnes of wheat this year for the third time in a row. The weather is really good for them and they are also playing high prices on the cards of Australian farmers, “agro-economist Phin Ziebell from the National Australia Bank told Reuters.