A month ago, a photo of a peasant household in one of the villages of northern Ukraine liberated from Russian troops spread around social networks. The occupiers deliberately scattered the grain over the dirt so that it could not be used.
Something similar already happened in Ukraine in 1932-33, when the deliberate genocide of Ukrainians by Moscow led to the death of several million people from starvation. Researchers still cannot calculate the number of victims of hunger, citing figures from four million to 10 million people.
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I have already talked about the huge losses suffered by Ukrainian farmers due to the occupation. Thousands of agricultural machines were destroyed or simply stolen. It’s estimated that 15 per cent of the livestock in the country have been destroyed. Right now, the theft of hundreds of thousands of tons of grain from the regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia continues.
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Dozens of cruise missiles fly into Ukrainian cities every day. Some of them manage to be shot down, but many missiles still hit the target, destroying infrastructure and killing civilians. It sounds very strange, but we have become accustomed, so to speak, to air raid alerts.
In the first days of the war, when they heard the sound of a siren, my family hid in the cellar. But now we perceive the possibility of a rocket arrival stoically. After all, the air raid siren sounds several times a day. If every time you hide in the cellar, then you will not be able to do everyday things, and it is possible that you will just go crazy.
In recent weeks, the choice of targets for missiles has changed markedly. Now these are mainly bridges, railway infrastructure, electrical substations… and granaries. Several large elevators filled with grain were destroyed by a direct hit. At the end of April, a warehouse containing thousands of tons of fertilizers was also deliberately blown up.
Given the blockade of Ukrainian seaports and the impossibility of exporting grain, we can talk about the deliberate destruction of the agrarian potential of Ukraine. Also — an attempt to provoke famine on a global scale.
I’m not talking about famine specifically in Ukraine. Ukraine produces as much as five times more grain than it needs to feed the population. And as long as we have free regions, we will always have bread.
Many years of experience and memory of the artificial famine of 1932-33, as well as 1947, formed a real cult of food supplies in the house among Ukrainians. If you look in the cellar in my house, you will find there: a ton of corn and wheat in iron barrels, half a ton of potatoes, 300 cans of homemade preserves, several bags of sugar and salt, 20 cases of apples, buckets of nuts and much more.
These are not reserves in case of war. We have always lived like this: my grandparents, my parents, and all my neighbours, relatives and friends. I remember from childhood numerous boxes of matches, candles (suddenly there will be no electricity), large packs of salt and mountains of stored firewood and coal. The desire to create such reserves is the result of the sad experience of previous generations, who saw both war and famine.
All of these products are grown in our own fields and orchards and also (grain) is bought from farmers. Therefore, if the enemy does not break through to us, then the Ukrainians will not die of hunger — we are ready for anything.
But outside our borders, due to the naval blockade of the Russian invaders, as well as the destruction of the agricultural infrastructure of Ukraine, the population of the planet has already received less than 20 million tonnes of grain. If we cannot export another 50 million to 60 million tonnes of grain from the next harvest, this will cause famine in many regions of Africa and Asia.
Things have come to the point that, for example, France is already seriously considering the issue of military protection of cargo ships with Ukrainian grain. After all, hunger, as well as rising food prices, can cause great social upheavals that will affect both Europe and America as well.
If Russia continues to destroy grain elevators in Ukraine, world famine will come even sooner than expected.
There is another problem. Starting from the end of June and up to August, wheat and barley ripen in Ukraine, on an area of more than six million hectares. These are huge fields, ranging from 100 to 300 hectares, often located in areas remote from settlements. Even in peacetime, farmers were forced to ensure that ripened crops did not burn out from a cigarette thrown away by someone or even from deliberate arson — there are enough fools everywhere.
But now everything is much more serious. I hate to talk about it, but there are still hundreds of Russian spies operating in Ukraine — citizens of Ukraine who have been recruited over the past years.
These are different people. Someone works for the aggressor for ideological reasons, dreaming of the revival of the Soviet empire. Some make sabotage for the sake of big money, for example, indicating the co-ordinates of targets for Russian missiles. But there is also a category of saboteurs who can be called random people. Sometimes they are teenagers who received an offer on social networks to earn only US$15 or US$20 for indicating a target for shelling. It’s unbelievable but these are young fools who do not even think about the moral consequences of their actions. All they are interested in is getting the amount of money that is enough for one evening of entertainment…
It is unlikely that this is an exclusively Ukrainian phenomenon — there are such unscrupulous teenagers in every country and in every school. And it is very important that the family and society do not remain indifferent to children, helping them grow up as honest people and patriots of their country.
By the way, having heard about several such cases, I immediately talked to my 14-year-old son just in case. Who knows what letters and offers he may receive on social networks — it is better for a father to warn his son in advance.
I talked about this in such detail because today every farmer in Ukraine is preparing to protect his wheat. As soon as the fields with grain crops turn golden, the threat of arson immediately increases. Moreover, a variety of people can set fire to them — experienced saboteurs, asocial elements, or even teenagers seduced by US$15.
This is a very big problem, because of which Ukrainian farmers can lose a lot of money, and the world can lose the grain needed to feed millions of people. Our farmers are already forming teams of guards who will guard the wheat day and night. In addition, water tanks were prepared, and even their own fire engines.
And I am sure that we will save our grain and find a way to get it to people in countries where there is a shortage of food. We all need this.
