russian military deliberately set wheat fields on fire. This was stated by the head of the Dnipro Regional Council Mykola Lukashuk.
He specified that the fires the day before were caused by shelling of the Zaporizhzhia region by the russian army. According to his estimates, at least 20 hectares of wheat were burned as a result.
Former People's Deputy Igor Lutsenko published photos of a burning grain field. According to him, sometimes the flame reaches 5 meters in height, and the fire spreads over hundreds of meters.
His picture was posted on Twitter by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko. “Remember this picture every time russians say they care about global food security. Millions of people across the world will face hunger – because russia launched a brutal war against Ukraine,” the diplomat said.
Lutsenko clarified that the russian military launched a special projectile into the air, which exploded over the field, and the burning debris fell to the ground – due to them the fire started.
“The russians burn our bread. A special projectile flies with a characteristic noise, as if flapping with metal wings. When it explodes, several burning pieces fall slowly down.
The field is inflamed because of them.
The wheat is dry after several weeks of hot weather, it catches fire easily, as if it were not stalks in the field, but matches.
The grains burn brightly, they release the sunlight accumulated in them for several months in a matter of seconds.
The fire is extremely intense. The field crackles. The sound is as if something is being fried on several hundred pans at the same time.
The flame sometimes reaches a height of 5 meters, it stretches for hundreds of meters. Black smoke spreads across the sky for many kilometers,” he wrote.
A video of such a projectile descending from the sky was published by the 28th separate mechanized brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign.
The press service of the prosecutor's office of the Kherson region reported that 150 hectares of wheat and barley crops were burned in the Beryslav district due to russian attack on the region on July 3-5. The settlements of Osokorivka, Zahradivka, Novovorontsovka and other villages came under fire.
According to NASA estimates, whose employees studied satellite images, russia controls almost a quarter (22%) of Ukraine's arable land.
Ukraine is one of the leaders in the supply of grain and edible oils. It produces almost half of the sunflower oil sold in the world, 17% of barley and 12% of corn. Before the war, the country was the fifth largest exporter of wheat.
But now products from the occupied territories are exported to russia. In addition, millions of tons of Ukrainian grain remain blocked in Black Sea ports. The UN has repeatedly stated that this threatens a global food crisis and even famine.