DISINFO: Ukraine is paying for weapons with grain
SUMMARY
Ukrainian grain exports are not going to the starving, poor countries of the South, but to the warehouses of European countries in exchange for weapons. Ukraine, for example, supplies food to Romania daily in exchange for arms by train and barges on the Danube.
David Beazley, Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), has called on Russia to open Ukrainian seaports to grain exports.
For its part, the Kremlin has recalled that Ukrainian ports, including those for grain exports, must be de-mined before they can be opened.
RESPONSE
A new pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine, aiming to shift the blame for the growing global food insecurity and price increases to Ukraine.
Ukraine is one of the world’s top agricultural producers and exporters. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, most of the food produced by Ukraine – enough to feed 400 million people – was exported through the country’s seven Black Sea ports, according to an estimate from the World Food Programme.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has destabilised global food markets and is driving food prices up due to increased cost of production, transport and freight insurance. Russia has destroyed substantial food stocks, production, as well as processing and transport capacities in Ukraine.
Russian warships block Black Sea trade routes, which prevent the export of Ukrainian grain.
Since Ukraine’s sea ports have been blocked since the Russian invasion, Ukraine has been forced to export grain by train via its western border or via its small Danube river ports into Romania. It has sent around 80,000 tones of grains to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta, as of April 26, 2022.
The claim that Ukraine allegedly is blocking international ships in the black sea has been debunked by the Ukrainian factcheckers.
Multiple countries around the world support Ukraine's defense against Russia' military aggression with deliveries of weapons, ammunition and non-lethal military equipment, including multiple NATO allies, Australia, Japan, and others. There is no basis to claim that by exporting grain, in the conditions of Russian naval blockade, Ukraine is paying for the weapons deliveries.
See related disinformation claim alleging that US, Canada, Switzerland to blame for surge in food and energy prices due to illegal sanctions on Russia. Read also the EUvsDisinfo article covering Russian disinformation related to the food security.
Read more disinformation cases about Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine.