Ukraine's top sunflower oil producer shuts down all processing plants due to Russia's mass attacks

Kernel Holding, Ukraine's largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, announced on Nov. 12 that it had suspended operations at all eight of its extraction plants due to the impact of Russian strikes.

The announcement comes just two days after a source in Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent that Russia is preparing strikes against food industry facilities across Ukraine. The attacks are meant to destabilize food security, inflict economic damage, and increase Russia's share of global agriculture exports.

"Due to massive Russian strikes on food industry facilities, Kernel has suspended operations at all of its oil extraction plants," the company said in a press release on Nov. 12.

"Over the past few days, Russian drones have deliberately targeted production sites at Ukrainian processing facilities, including Kernel's assets. The strikes caused damage to production buildings, equipment, and storage tanks."

The process of extracting sunflower oil poses an high risk of fire, the company explained, meaning a drone strike on production facilities can cause large-scale fires and endanger personnel.

Kernel said that the safety of its employees was the main driver of the decision to suspend plant operations, and confirmed that all workers are currently safe.

The company has also suspended all seed purchases, according to the press release.

Kernel said that it "maintains full operational and financial stability" despite the shut-down and damage caused by Russian strikes. The company also said it continued to ship inventory from its warehouses and fulfill prior agreements with Ukrainian farmers.

Kernel Holding exports sunflower oil products worldwide and provides storage for grains and seeds. Prior to Russia's full-scale invasion, the company accounted for about 9% of global sunflower oil production and was the world's top producer and exporter of the product.

The company owns eight oil extraction plants and boasts an annual processing capacity of up to 3.5 million metric tons of sunflower seeds.

The night before Kernel's announcement, Ukraine's Air Force reported that Russia launched Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic missiles, Zircon anti-ship missiles, and 123 long-range attack drones, including 72 jet-powered drones, across the country. Eight oblasts reported damage from the overnight strike.

While the aerial assault primarily targeted energy and transportation infrastructure, Ukraine's food industry is increasingly in Russia's crosshairs. The HUR source who spoke to the Kyiv Independent explicitly listed sunflower oil production facilities among Russia's planned targets, along with other vegetable oil plants.

Russia also plans to hit grain storage sites, dairy factories, meat processing plants, and poultry farms, the source said.