A World Food Crisis: Ukraine War Chokes Off Key Grain Supplies

World leaders accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of causing a global food crisis on purpose. New estimates now place hundreds of millions more people in danger of food insecurity. Russia has blocked Ukraine's ports. It also attacked food warehouses. Exports of grains have gone down. 

The cost of staple foods has gone up. About 1.6 billion people soon won't have enough food. That's according to United Nations estimates. Nearly 250 million people around the world could starve. Food supplies from Russia and Ukraine have shrunk. 

The two nations supply 28% of globally traded wheat, 29% of the barley, 15% of the maize, and 75% of the sunflower oil. Ukraine’s food exports feed 400 million people around the globe, the Economist reported.

On Tuesday, a Russian official accused Russian troops of targeting food supplies with bombs. She said they trapped Ukrainian cargo ships. The ships are filled with wheat and sunflower seeds. 

The official said Russia is hoarding food. She said the country is “holding back supplies to increase global prices."

Putin’s supposed strategy of weaponizing food drew comparisons to the 1932-33 Ukraine famine. It's known as the Holodomor. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin caused the famine. Russia used to be a republic of the Soviet Union.

Photo from Reuters.