Russian forces have been repeatedly accused of stealing grain from Ukrainian farmers in occupied areas as well as other crops such as sunflower seeds, along with fertiliser and agricultural equipment. The BBC has spoken to farmers, analysed satellite images and followed tracking data to look for evidence of where stolen grain is going.
A few dozen miles from the frontline, Ukrainian farmer Dmytro describes how the business he nurtured over 25 years was lost in four months of Russian occupation.
The BBC tried to contact more than 200 farmers whose land is now in Russian-occupied territory. Dmytro – we are not using his real name to protect him from reprisals – was one of the few willing to meet us.
“They stole our grain. They destroyed our premises, destroyed our equipment.”
He says Russian forces now occupy 80% of the tens of thousands of hectares he farms and accuses them of stealing grain on an industrial scale.
CCTV from one of the company’s sites captured the moment the Russians arrived. We’ve blurred some of the surroundings to protect the identities of the farm owners.
Later in the footage, one soldier spots a security camera and shoots at it, but misses.
Grain trucks were stolen and Dmytro says a couple of them had GPS trackers fitted.
We were able to use this data to see they had gone south into Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and then on to Russia.
From the GPS data, both trucks stopped near a storage facility – identified as a site for unloading and storing grain – in the Crimean town of Oktyabrske.
In a satellite image from 14 June this year – you can see a line of trucks on the road next to the facility.
We can see the storage facility is next to a rail line, which can be used to transport grain either into Russia or down to ports in southern Crimea. The top of the storage site also appears to have the Z symbol – the emblem of Russia’s invasion – on the roof.
©️BBC
