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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Monday, December 15
(Updated: )
Russian air defense units have shot down at least 15 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) en route to Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said.
Monday, December 15
The attack caused "serious damage" to an unspecified facility, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Local Telegram channels reported explosions at a key thermal power plant.
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Alexander Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Australia from Ukraine with his wife Larisa, was one of 16 killed in a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community in Sydney.
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Ukrainska Pravda, citing law enforcement sources, reported that Anna Skorokhod, a lawmaker from the For the Future party, is suspected of taking a large bribe.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Berlin, as talks continue to finalize a peace plan to end Russia's full-scale war.
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Russian forces attacked a supermarket in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Dec. 14, injuring at least 14 people, including a six-year-old child, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported.
"I don't think we'll be delaying anything. It is very important for us to maintain the relationship between us and Poland," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on renewed calls for Ukraine to hold wartime elections after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Kyiv used Russia’s war to avoid a vote, echoing a Kremlin narrative.
Zelensky said Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) chief Kyrylo Budanov informed him Belarus preferred this option over releasing the prisoners via "this or that EU country."
(Updated: )Belarus
The U.S. lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash in exchange for the release of over 100 political prisoners in Belarus, many of whom were transferred to Ukraine.
Ukraine's "Achilles" drone regiment described the pipeline as a "critically important logistical channel" for Russian forces. The route was discovered during reconnaissance and destroyed in a joint operation with other Ukrainian units.
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The Afipsky Oil Refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, the Uryupinsk oil depot in Vologograd Oblast, and two fuel depots in Crimea were struck, the Ukrainian military reported.
Ukrainian forces downed 110 out of the 138 drones, including Shahed-type attack drones, launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Russia also launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile.
