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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Sunday, December 14
The number includes 710 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Russia’s oil and gas revenue in December is expected to be nearly half compared to the previous year, down to about 410 billion rubles ($5.17 billion), Reuters reported on Dec. 12.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Dec. 13 that Ukraine’s sanctions against nearly 700 vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet had entered into force.
Sunday, December 14
Explosions were reported at an oil depot near Simferopol in occupied Crimea, a chemical plant in the Russian city of Veliky Novgorod, and several energy sites, media reported late on Dec. 13.
(Updated: )
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 13 announced he will meet "with envoys" of U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days as discussions on the U.S.-proposed peace framework aimed at ending Russia's war continue.
(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.
(Updated: )
A Russian airstrike on Odesa on Dec. 12 damaged infrastructure and left parts of the city without electricity and water, the head of the Odesa Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak, reported.
On Nov. 28, a Russian attack lasting more than 10 hours struck Ukrainian cities, with Kyiv as the main target. The Kyiv Independent’s Nick Allard and Tania Myronyshena spent the night with a Kyiv family sheltering in a parking garage with their three children.
(Updated: )
Russian missile and drone strikes on energy infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv oblasts disrupted electricity supplies.
Ukrainian troops continue to employ "active defense tactics," seeking to improve positions and dislodge Russian forces in some areas, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
The number includes 1,300 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Saturday, December 13
Explosions were reported in Russia's Saratov Oblast overnight on Dec. 13 as officials warned of a possible drone attack, with unverified local reports indicating the Saratov oil refinery had been targeted.
