Russia planning strikes on Ukraine's food industry, military intelligence source says
on Google
Russia is preparing strikes against food industry facilities across Ukraine, including Ukrainian-owned and foreign-owned businesses, a source in Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
According to the source, Russian forces are planning to target grain storage and processing facilities, including grain elevators and warehouses, sunflower oil and other vegetable oil production facilities, dairy plants, meat processing plants, poultry farms, and other food industry enterprises.
The source said Moscow aims to destabilize Ukraine's food security and cause significant economic damage.
Russia also plans to accompany the strikes with an information campaign aimed at demoralizing Ukrainian society, according to the source.
The attacks are intended to reduce Ukraine's foreign currency earnings from agricultural exports while increasing Russia's share of global agricultural exports, particularly to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, the source said.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's food supply chains in recent months. In August, Russian strikes hit distribution centers belonging to major supermarket chains, including Silpo and Novus, leaving some Kyiv stores with empty shelves and shortages of everyday products such as vegetables, dairy, and meat.
On Nov. 6, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing further strikes against critical facilities and bridges across the Dnipro River.
