Disinfo: EU is causing a global food shortage by keeping all the grain from Ukraine

Summary

Under an agreement reached earlier this year, Western countries will take over grain exported from Ukraine instead of sending it to developing countries. The situation could trigger a global food crisis, with only four of the 203 ships that left Ukrainian ports by 23 September going to the poorest countries.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to deflect Russia’s responsibility for the growing food crisis and supply insecurity by claiming that most of Ukraine's grain ships are sent to rich European countries. This false allegation goes in line with a wider pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign aiming to blame Western countries for a global food crisis engineered by Russia as part of its unjustified aggression against Ukraine.

Russia's responsibility for the global food crisis comes as a consequence of the unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine: naval blockade of Ukrainian posts, bombardment of transport infrastructure and shelling of farming regions. 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.

As can be seen from the database of the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative, as of 23 September, out of the 203 shipments, less then half, only 92 - headed to EU countries. The majority headed for other countries like Turkey, Egypt, China, and India. Besides, this doesn’t mean that these are their final destinations, as grain will be redistributed from some of these harbours to other countries.

See also article 15. of the conclusions of the European Council of 20 and 21 October 2022 which states:

Russia, by weaponising food in its war against Ukraine, is solely responsible for the global food security crisis it has provoked. Russia’s war of aggression has triggered disruptions of agricultural production, supply chains and trade that have driven world food and fertiliser prices to unprecedented levels. The EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes have made possible the export of significant volumes of Ukrainian crops, agricultural products and fertilisers to the countries most in need.

See other similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Western sanctions cause food crisis and price growth, that the food crisis has nothing to do with the Russian special operation, that Russia places no obstacles on the export of Ukrainian grain, or that Kyiv burned grains in Mariupol and mined the Black Sea to prevent its exportation.

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oroszhirek.hu (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 314
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20/10/2022
  • Article language(s) Hungarian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: EU, Russia, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, Ukraine
  • Keywords: Invasion of Ukraine, food
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Kyiv decided to strike at Kakhovka hydropower station dam. An environmental disaster will happen if this plan is executed.

Oct 19, 2022
Disproof

No evidence given.

This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets about the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, accusing Ukraine of plotting and carrying out war crimes, aiming to deflect attention from the actions of the Russian army.

Disinfo: Ukraine never existed before the 20th century, it was created by the Bolsheviks

Ukraine, as an independent, sovereign state, was unknown to history until the early 20th century.

The creation of the Ukrainian state is the fault of the Bolsheviks, and Vladimir Lenin personally.

Oct 18, 2022
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative designed to denigrate the history of Ukraine and its statehood, as well as to justify the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and occupation in parts of Ukraine via illegitimate referenda. It offers an absurd interpretation of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine with the use of the classic disinformation narrative about the Russian world.

Ukraine is a well-defined nation with a long history and its own literature and identity. The history of Ukraine dates back to the era of the Kyivan Rus’ in the 9th-13th centuries. A fully independent Ukraine only emerged in the 20th century, after long periods of successive domination by Poland-Lithuania, Russia, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Disinfo: Europe is a colony serving the interests of the American military-industrial complex

Europe is serving the imperialist interests of the US. The US is utilising the war in Ukraine, in order to foster its world hegemony, even as China and Russia are competing with them for world leadership. The EU’s colonial behaviour will harm its citizens and the first indicators are the lack of food and energy.

Oct 18, 2022
Disproof

The article presents an often-utilised pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing the EU and its member states of a lack of sovereignty. Pro-Russian outlets often describe European states as puppet-states or colonies of the US, in this case, using it to support the American defence industry. This article also pushes the narrative that Europe is freezing and starving (see narrative 3 of our article Smoke, mirrors and gas: the Kremlin deflects blame for the energy crisis).

Contrary to the claim about the EU’s subordinance to the US, the EU is a sovereign entity, created by the voluntary initiative of European nations. Furthermore, it has its own, independent foreign policy and EU citizens are directly represented in the European Parliament. EU member-states are represented in the Council of the EU and the European Council.