Global Food War: How Russia Transformed Food into Weaponry

After unsuccessful attempts to conquer Ukraine through military and terrorist means, Russia turned to an energy war, aiming to cripple Ukraine's energy system with missiles and freeze the nation during winter in an attempt to subdue the Ukrainian people. Now, Russia has initiated a food war, as reported by The Guardian.

The mining and sabotage of the Kakhovka Dam by Russians in June threatens to turn the agricultural lands of southern Ukraine into a landfill. Following Moscow's withdrawal from the UN-mediated agreement last month that allowed the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, Russia announced a maritime blockade of the country's ports.

With this move, Russia has directly targeted the food supply, obliterating 220,000 tons of grain waiting for export in silos through missile bombardments. Moreover, it has launched mass rocket attacks within Ukraine over the past two weeks on the Danube River ports of Reni and Izmail.

By attacking the food supply, Russia has resorted to one of the oldest forms of warfare. Ancient armies used to burn the granaries of their enemies to force surrender due to the fear of famine.

In this case, Ukraine's economy has suffered even greater damage, and Russian exports have garnered higher prices for its grain, including the stolen Ukrainian grain.

The threat of famine still looms over the poorest African nations. This Russian food war will exacerbate hunger due to higher prices and fewer humanitarian deliveries.

Ukraine contributed half of its wheat, which the World Food Programme (WFP) procured from global markets and sent to the neediest countries like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

The grain was of good quality, cost-effective, and swiftly transported from Odesa through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean, then via the Suez Canal to Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

Now, the WFP must buy grain at a higher price and transport it from ports much farther away.

WFP spokesperson Steve Taravella stated that without the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the organization would "truly struggle to feed the same number of people."

Due to historical underfunding, the WFP has been forced to make an impossible choice: either reduce the size of food parcels given to individuals or limit the number of people it can feed.

The EU has announced "solidarity lanes"—land, road, and inland waterways—through which Ukraine can export food. Croatia has offered its Rijeka port, while Baltic countries are proposing the use of their own ports.

However, overland routes to the west are complex and costly. Ukraine inherited wider railway gauges from the Soviet Union than most of Europe's, necessitating the reloading of goods between trains at borders.

Recall that in July 2022, the United Nations, Ukraine and Turkey entered into an agreement to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to help overcome the global food crisis that Russia provoked by starting a war against Ukraine.

Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are members of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul, which deals with the implementation of the grain agreement.

Since the inception of the grain deal in August 2022, nearly 33 million tons of Ukrainian grain and other food products were exported through the Black Sea.

In July 2023, the Press Secretary of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, announced the unilateral termination of Russia's participation in the grain deal concluded between Russia, Turkey, and the UN.

Ukraine is prepared to continue grain shipments despite the breakdown of the "grain deal" by Russia.