Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has significantly disrupted the country’s agricultural production, the UK has warned.
A defence intelligence update on the conflict from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Ukrainian grain harvest for 2022 “is likely to be around 20 per cent lower than 2021 due to reduced sowing areas following the invasion.”
The country is the fourth largest producer and exporter of agricultural goods and the reduced grain supply could cause a global increase in the price of grain, the update added.
The MoD said that high grain prices could “threaten global food security”, particularly in poorer countries.
The dire warning comes just a week after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the European conflict was contributing to economic downgrades for 143 countries and called high inflation “a clear and present danger” to the global economy.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the war has disrupted global trade in energy and grain and is threatening to cause food shortages in Africa and Middle East.
Ms Georgieva also warned of “the fragmentation of the world economy into geopolitical blocs,” with the West imposing far-reaching sanctions on Russia.
She said: “In a world where war in Europe creates hunger in Africa; where a pandemic can circle the globe in days and reverberate for years; where emissions anywhere mean rising sea levels almost everywhere — the threat to our collective prosperity from a breakdown in global cooperation cannot be overstated.”
In other developments, UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said that 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine and 2,000 of its armoured vehicles have either been destroyed or captured.
Making a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Wallace said: “It is our assessment that approximately 15,000 Russian personnel have been killed during their offensive.
“Alongside the death toll are the equipment losses and in total a number of sources suggest that to date over 2,000 armoured vehicles have been destroyed or captured.
“This includes at least 530 tanks, 530 armoured personnel carriers and 560 infantry fighting vehicles.
“Russia has also lost over 60 helicopters and fighter jets.”
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Anthony Blinken said that Russia is “failing in war aims” and Ukraine is “succeeding”.
Speaking at a news conference he added that a “sovereign, independent Ukraine” will be around “a lot longer than Russia’s Putin is on the scene.”
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Additional reporting by agencies
