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Russian forces are actively targeting grain stores and warehouses in Ukraine as a means of removing food sources for the population, according to farmer in the country Kees Huizinga.
On Saturday, Huizinga shared video footage with the Irish Farmers Journal which had been recorded by the head of Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) regional state administration Valentyn Reznichenko.
The footage shows a missile strike what Huizinga says is a grain store, with what appears to be tractors and other farm machinery in the foreground.
Huizinga said that, luckily, no one was injured in the Russian strike, but warned that this is the “same thing” that is happening in many parts of Ukraine.
He said Russian forces are now intentionally targeting grain stores with their missiles.
The farmer, a Dutch immigrant to Ukraine, said: “We, the world and history, will take from Russia much more than Russian missiles will take from Ukraine.
“Any infrastructure can be restored and we will definitely do it.”
Grain ‘spoiling’
Last month, the Irish Farmers Journal reported that some 30m tonnes of grain is sitting in Ukrainian silos and storage units “just waiting and spoiling”, according to director general of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) Roman Slaston.
The majority of this grain remains in storage due to logistical challenges for Ukrainian farmers who are trying to access export routes.
Slaston then said that “Ukraine has grain but it just can’t export it”. He said the situation is “unbelievable” at a time when global food security is at risk.
He described how “very small volumes” of grain are passing through Ukraine’s Romanian and Polish land borders on a daily basis, but warned that without intervention by western countries to protect export ship routes from Ukraine, these rail routes alone will not “suffice”.
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