In the speech that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made after Russia’s retreat from the grain agreement, Zelensky said “Russia began deliberately aggravating the food crisis back in September”.
“From September to today, 176 vessels have already accumulated in the grain corridor, which cannot follow their route. Some grain carriers have been waiting for more than three weeks. This is an absolutely transparent intention of Russia to return the threat of large-scale famine to Africa and Asia. Literally today, more than 2 million tonnes of food are in the sea. This means that access to food has actually worsened for more than 7 million consumers. It is also important that Russia attacked our Naval Forces at least twice during the grain initiative. Ukraine has been and can continue to be one of the guarantors of global food security.” says Volodymyr Zelensky.