Shmyhal: Russia steals $1 bln worth of Ukrainian grain since war start
Russia has already stolen grain worth about $1 billion from the occupied territories of Ukraine, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said at the second international summit Grain from Ukraine in Kyiv on Saturday.
"The occupiers have prepared the technical means to steal and export 12,000 tonnes of grain from the occupied territories daily. They succeeded only partially, as the heroic resistance of Ukrainians forced the enemy to retreat. However, the amount of stolen goods is impressive - millions of tonnes of grain worth about $1 billion. The plundering of Ukraine by Russia continues even now," the Head of Government noted.
According to him, despite all this, Ukraine will remain one of the guarantors of global food security.
"This year, Ukraine's harvest is expected to exceed 79 million tonnes. That is 10% more than last year. For our domestic needs, 25% of the harvested grain is enough. The rest can be sent to places where there is a risk of hunger.
To date, 30 countries and international organisations have joined the Grain from Ukraine programme initiated by the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, raising 180 million dollars to buy Ukrainian grain.
We have sent 170,000 tonnes of food to Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. We are about to send another 25,000 tonnes to Nigeria, Shmyhal said.
The head of government called for more active participation in this initiative, to support the Ukrainian Peace Formula and contribute to its implementation.
"The world must also put an end once and for all to Russia's barbaric practice of genocidal starvation. Russia must be severely punished. The top political leadership of the Russian Federation should be brought to justice not only for the act of aggression, the shelling of peaceful towns and villages, the abduction of Ukrainian children, the massacres in Bucha and Izium, but also for the theft of Ukrainian grain, the blockade of Ukrainian ports, the attempt to revive Stalin's methods of famine in the 21st century. There must be a clear legal response – a special tribunal for the members of the Putin regime," the Prime Minister of Ukraine said.
