Russian oligarch Alexander Tkachov's company, Agrocomplex, has seized around 400,000 acres of farmland belonging to three Ukrainian agribusinesses in Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Tkachov, an ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, is a former agriculture minister and governor of Russia's Krasnodar Krai.
The Ukrainian authorities are investigating the theft of farmland by Tkachov’s company, according to the newspaper.
“Russia is taking over the economy in occupied territories and using that control to help control the whole area,” Dmytro Skorniakov, CEO of Ukrainian agricultural company HarvEast Holding, said.
HarvEast has lost 100,000 acres in Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast, while Nibulon, another agribusiness firm, has lost 50,000 acres, and Agroton has accused Agrocomplex of stealing 250,000 acres.
As of Nov. 10, an estimated 2.8 million metric tons of grain and 1.2 million tons of oil seeds with a combined value of $1.87 billion had been destroyed or stolen due to Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.
Research using satellite imagery from NASA’s food security and agriculture program showed that Russia had collected almost 6 million tons of wheat from occupied territories, Bloomberg reported on Dec. 3.
Swiss Prosecutor General Stefan Blaettler said in July that selling looted raw materials could constitute a war crime.
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Thursday, February 12
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Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the ballistic missiles were targeting the city's infrastructure facilities.
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Ukrainian drones struck a Russian military plant in Michurinsk, Tambov Oblast, and a Defense Ministry site in Kotluban, Volgograd Oblast, overnight on Feb. 11-12, independent media and local authorities reported.
Thursday, February 12
Short track speed skater Oleh Handei said his helmet bore a line from Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko: "Where there is heroism, there is no final defeat." It was banned from the Olympics on the grounds of being a "political slogan."
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According to the president, the negotiations would be hosted by the U.S. and will take place on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18. The talks, however, depend on Russia's agreement to take part, something that Ukraine and the U.S. have not yet received.
"I am absolutely confident that if ... there is no date, then Russia will do everything to block the process," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 11.
(Updated: )Elections
European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
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A Russian strike on Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv Oblast, killed four people, including three toddlers, and injured two others, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported overnight Feb. 11.
The messages come a week after Ukraine's defense ministry agreed with Starlink's parent company, SpaceX, to introduce mandatory registration for the internet terminals in Ukraine, a move meant to prevent their use by Russian forces.
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Kyiv Independent reporters on the ground reported hearing two explosions around 2:50 p.m. local time.
"We have been discussing the training of Ukrainian soldiers, also on the soil of Ukraine," Kaja Kallas, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, said in Brussels on Feb. 11 before a meeting of EU defense ministers.
