Kyiv, May 6 (FN Agency) Russian forces have been stealing farm equipment and tons of grain from Ukrainian farmers in areas they have occupied and targeting food storage sites with artillery, according to sources. CNN quoted sources as saying that the phenomenon has accelerated in recent weeks as Russian units have tightened their grip on parts of the rich agricultural regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine. Amid Russian operations, the sowing operations in several areas have been disrupted or abandoned. As per Ukraine’s Defense Ministry , about 400,000 tons of grain had been stolen till date.
According to CNN, Russian soldiers removed 1,500 tons of grain from storage units known as elevators in the Kherson village of Mala Lepetykha in late April, using trucks with Crimean number plates. Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov has shared a video showing trucks with Russian symbol ‘Z’ carrying grain towards Crimea. CNN quoted the Mayor as saying that Russians “went around all the villages, every yard and looked for agricultural machinery, for grain, which they subsequently looted.” He said, “Chechen soldiers, fighting for Russia, act like criminals in the 1990s. First they offer to buy grain for a ridiculously low price. But if you don’t agree, they take everything from you for nothing. The scale of looting is simply overwhelming.”