… the president of the European Commission on Tuesday accused Moscow of deliberately trying to provoke a global food crisis by targeting grain warehouses, ports and other critical infrastructure in its three-month war in Ukraine.
Ursula von der Leyen denounced Russia for destroying silos, seizing grain stocks and enforcing a blockade that has kept Ukraine, one of the world’s most important food exporters, from shipping wheat, sunflower seeds and other products to hungry markets.
“The consequences of these shameful acts are there for everyone to see: Global wheat prices are skyrocketing, and it is fragile countries and vulnerable populations that suffer most,” Ms. von der Leyen said in an address to the World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of global business leaders in Davos, Switzerland. Her comments came a day after the head of the World Food Program warned that if Ukraine’s food supplies remained off the market, the world could face shortages over the coming year that could amount to “hell on Earth,” according to The Associated Press.
But for Ukraine’s Western allies, which have also sought to strangle Russia’s economy with sanctions, options to ease the food crisis appear to be few and fraught with peril.
Ms. von der Leyen pledged to help Ukrainian exports transit through Europe via rail, although experts have said that doing so would free up only a fraction of the harvest. And although countries such as Britain have expressed initial support for a Lithuanian proposal for a naval operation to escort Ukrainian ships past the Russian blockade, such a move risks placing Ukraine’s Western allies in direct confrontation with Moscow’s warships in the Black Sea. …
Amid a global food crisis provoked by Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on Tuesday accused “Russian thieves” of stealing Ukrainian grain. They “load it onto ships, pass through Bosporus, and try to sell it abroad,” he wrote in a tweet. “Don’t buy the stolen,” he added. “Don’t become accomplices to Russian crimes. Theft has never brought anyone luck.” …
Fears of a global food crisis are swelling as a Russian blockade of Ukrainian seaports and attacks on its grain warehouses have choked off one of the world’s breadbaskets, deepening fears that President Vladimir V. Putin is using food as a powerful new weapon in his three-month-old war.
World leaders called for international action — possibly including a naval flotilla to evade the Russian blockade — to deliver 20 million tons of grain trapped in Ukraine. Some warned that unless the port of Odesa is opened soon, there is a threat of famine in some countries and political unrest in others, in what could be the gravest global repercussion yet of Russia’s assault on its neighbor.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, accused Russian troops of confiscating Ukrainian grain stocks and agricultural machinery, Russian artillery of bombarding grain warehouses, and warships in the Black Sea of trapping Ukrainian cargo vessels laden with wheat and sunflower seeds.
“On top of this, Russia is now hoarding its own food exports as a form of blackmail, holding back supplies to increase global prices, or trading wheat in exchange for political support,” Ms. von der Leyen said to an annual gathering of political and business leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. …
The European Union, she said, was working to open alternative routes for shipments overland, linking Ukraine’s borders to European ports. But with the West reluctant to risk a direct military confrontation with Russia and the world’s food distribution network already creaky because of pandemic-related supply disruptions, freeing up Ukraine’s food exports will be difficult and dangerous.
Among the proposals circulating was one from a Lithuanian government official in which a flotilla of ships, escorted by vessels from non-NATO countries, would try to break the Russian naval blockade off Odesa and escort Ukrainian cargo ships. Countries most affected by food shortages, like Egypt, would supply the escort ships.
At the World Economic Forum, where worries about the war’s ripple effects have already eclipsed almost every other global issue, political leaders and food security experts reached for apocalyptic language to describe the threat. …
I never thought I’d see the day when America was afraid of confronting anybody’s warships.
Not Brittania’s, not the Barbary Pirates, not Spain’s, not Japan’s, not Germany’s, not Russia’s (if you remember the Cuban Missile Crisis), and not China’s (if we expect China to take seriously our “threat” to defend Taiwan because it is essential to OUR security…anybody remember what the whole Cold War was about?
One might suppose that if the West declares economic war on Russia, then Russia is going to retaliate on the West as best it can.
Meanwhile if the US is trying to woo China away from Russia, suggesting that the US will provide military support to Taiwan ‘should that become necessary’, that’s not going to improve US-China relations.
trying to tread carefully here: yes, we could expect Russia to “retaliate”: that is get around our attempts to stop them from murdering people. If we chicken out in Ukraine in order to “woo China” we will deserve what ultimately happens to us. I don’t think China will defend us from Russia.
By “we” I mean the country, which is an abstraction, without soul, life, or body parts. the children and innocent women and men who fought will not deserve what will happen to them.
Ron (RC) Weakley (A.K.A., Darryl For A While At EV) says:
The Russian army has a long history of brutality — Ukraine is no exception
by Tom Mockaitis, opinion contributor – 04/11/22 3:30 PM ET
The horrifying atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine come as no surprise to military historians. The Russian army and its Soviet predecessor have a long and ugly history of systematic brutality in warfare.
Following the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks fought a five-year civil war to consolidate control of the country. The conflict took the lives of perhaps 10 million people, most of them civilians. The Red Army and the Cheka (secret police) employed a strategy of “mass terror.” “No mercy for these enemies of the people,” Vladimir Lenin declared. He described anyone who opposed the revolution or even resisted communism as “these dregs of humanity, these hopelessly decayed and atrophied limbs, this contagion, this plague, this ulcer that socialism has inherited from capitalism.” Dehumanization always precedes mass murder.
The Soviet Union entered WWII not as an ally of the west, but as Germany’s partner in carving up Poland. Although it did little fighting, the Red Army captured up to 250,000 Polish prisoners, which it handed over to the notorious NKVD, or internal security service. In the spring of 1940, the NKVD summarily executed 21,857 prisoners of war, including approximately 10,000 Polish officers, in the infamous Katyn Forest massacre.
When they turned on their former allies in June of 1941, the Germans unleashed a reign of terror on the Soviet Union, which the Soviets reciprocated on their march westward. Little quarter was given by either side. Civilians suffered the worst atrocities, but 3.3 million Soviet and 1.1 million German POWs died in captivity.
Red Army atrocities did not end with the fighting. Soviet soldiers raped as many as 2 million German women, from young girls to old women; an estimated 240,000 of them died from injuries, venereal disease and suicide as a result. Rapes also occurred in other occupied countries. When communist leader Milovan Djilas complained to Josef Stalin about the sexual assault perpetrated by Soviet troops in Yugoslavia, the premier replied, “Can’t you understand it if a soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometers through blood and fire and death has fun with a woman?”
Such brutality continued throughout the Cold War. When they invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Soviet forces encountered unexpected resistance, as they have in Ukraine. They responded with scorched earth and mass murder. They even used mines disguised as toys to maim children. More than 1.3 million Afghans, most of them civilians, died in what many experts describe as genocide.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the army of the newly created Russian Federation followed in the footsteps of its predecessor. Russia fought two wars against the breakaway republic of Chechnya (1994-1996 and 1999-2009). The second war, overseen by the new president Vladimir Putin, was particularly brutal. In addition to indiscriminate shelling of civilians, Russian forces engaged in summary executions, rape and looting. Atrocities were not spontaneous actions of rogue soldiers, but deliberate policy. “Without bespredel [no limits warfare], we’ll get nowhere in Chechnya,” one solider said, “We have to be cruel to them. Otherwise, we’ll achieve nothing.” Approximately 250,000 civilians died in the Chechen wars…
Ron (RC) Weakley (A.K.A., Darryl For A While At EV) says:
The war crimes and crimes against humanity which were perpetrated by the Soviet Union and its armed forces from 1919 to 1991 include acts which were committed by the Red Army (later called the Soviet Army) as well as acts which were committed by the NKVD, including acts which were committed by the NKVD’s Internal Troops. In some cases, these acts were committed upon the orders of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in pursuance of the early Soviet Government’s policy of Red Terror. In other instances they were committed without orders by Soviet troops against prisoners of war or civilians of countries that had been in armed conflict with the USSR, or they were committed during partisan warfare.[2]
The Afghan civil war, which started in 1979, prompted the Soviet army to intervene by occupying Afghanistan. During the 10 year occupation, Afghan civilians were raped by Soviets and their allies.
The widespread rape and torture of women during the years of the Soviet occupation after 1979 was well documented by Amnesty International and by UN reports, she added.
“The criminals, mainly Soviet soldiers but also Afghan soldiers supporting the Marxist-Leninist government at that time, went unpunished. Most women had lost a close male relative under Soviet occupation,” said Shorish-Shamley, whose brother had been killed by the pro-Soviet regime.
Unfortunately, after the end of the Soviet occupation, warlords battled for power and started another round of mass rape against civilians.
Ron (RC) Weakley (A.K.A., Darryl For A While At EV) says:
The United States had more deaths above normal levels during the pandemic than most other wealthy countries, according to data released by the World Health Organization this month. U.S. deaths were 15 percent above normal — a number surpassed by only four other large countries in the same income group: Chile, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. …
(graphs at link)
Globally, many poorer and developing countries fared worse than the wealthiest ones, but deaths in the United States rose even higher than in several countries with far fewer resources, including Argentina and the Philippines.
Throughout the pandemic, the United States and other wealthy countries have had access to the lion’s share of lifesaving supplies such as vaccines, antiviral treatments, masks and testing kits. While most rich countries also have a relatively older and more vulnerable segment of their population, they also had access to economic support and policies.
Some of the countries with the largest increase in death rates during the first two years of the pandemic were those in the upper-middle-income groups: Ecuador, Mexico and Peru. But many countries with the lowest income — including most African countries — are not included in the charts because their data is less reliable. …
New Residential Sales05/24/2022 10:00 AM EDTSales of new single-family houses in April 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000. This is 16.6 percent (+/- 10.4%) below the revised March 2022 estimate of 709,000.
April 2022: -16.6 % change March 2022 (r): -10.5* % change
March was revised down from 763,000
(NB: the consensus was for a 750,000 rate in April, so we have a big miss)
The European Union, she said, was working to open alternative routes for shipments overland, linking Ukraine’s borders to European ports. But with the West reluctant to risk a direct military confrontation with Russia and the world’s food distribution network already creaky because of pandemic-related supply disruptions, freeing up Ukraine’s food exports will be difficult and dangerous.
Among the proposals circulating was one from a Lithuanian government official in which a flotilla of ships, escorted by vessels from non-NATO countries, would try to break the Russian naval blockade off Odesa and escort Ukrainian cargo ships. Countries most affected by food shortages, like Egypt, would supply the escort ships.
At the World Economic Forum, where worries about the war’s ripple effects have already eclipsed almost every other global issue, political leaders and food security experts reached for apocalyptic language to describe the threat. …
Ron (RC) Weakley (A.K.A., Darryl For A While At EV) says:
European Commission president denounced Moscow for targeting Ukrainian grain warehouses
NY Times – May 24
“Russian thieves” accused of stealing Ukrainian grain
Freeing Ukraine’s food supply to help feed the world will be difficult and dangerous
NY Times – May 24
Bless those Lithuanians.
I never thought I’d see the day when America was afraid of confronting anybody’s warships.
Not Brittania’s, not the Barbary Pirates, not Spain’s, not Japan’s, not Germany’s, not Russia’s (if you remember the Cuban Missile Crisis), and not China’s (if we expect China to take seriously our “threat” to defend Taiwan because it is essential to OUR security…anybody remember what the whole Cold War was about?
One might suppose that if the West declares economic war on Russia, then Russia is going to retaliate on the West as best it can.
Meanwhile if the US is trying to woo China away from Russia, suggesting that the US will provide military support to Taiwan ‘should that become necessary’, that’s not going to improve US-China relations.
Is Biden Missing a Chance to Engage China?
Foreign Policy – May 23
Appalled by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine debacle, Beijing could be open to a new U.S. approach.
Fred
trying to tread carefully here: yes, we could expect Russia to “retaliate”: that is get around our attempts to stop them from murdering people. If we chicken out in Ukraine in order to “woo China” we will deserve what ultimately happens to us. I don’t think China will defend us from Russia.
By “we” I mean the country, which is an abstraction, without soul, life, or body parts. the children and innocent women and men who fought will not deserve what will happen to them.
Coberly,
“Bless those Lithuanians…”
[Yep. They remember when Stalinist thugs raped their young women at the end of WWII. Payback is a…]
The Russian army has a long history of brutality — Ukraine is no exception
by Tom Mockaitis, opinion contributor – 04/11/22 3:30 PM ET
The horrifying atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine come as no surprise to military historians. The Russian army and its Soviet predecessor have a long and ugly history of systematic brutality in warfare.
Following the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks fought a five-year civil war to consolidate control of the country. The conflict took the lives of perhaps 10 million people, most of them civilians. The Red Army and the Cheka (secret police) employed a strategy of “mass terror.” “No mercy for these enemies of the people,” Vladimir Lenin declared. He described anyone who opposed the revolution or even resisted communism as “these dregs of humanity, these hopelessly decayed and atrophied limbs, this contagion, this plague, this ulcer that socialism has inherited from capitalism.” Dehumanization always precedes mass murder.
The Soviet Union entered WWII not as an ally of the west, but as Germany’s partner in carving up Poland. Although it did little fighting, the Red Army captured up to 250,000 Polish prisoners, which it handed over to the notorious NKVD, or internal security service. In the spring of 1940, the NKVD summarily executed 21,857 prisoners of war, including approximately 10,000 Polish officers, in the infamous Katyn Forest massacre.
When they turned on their former allies in June of 1941, the Germans unleashed a reign of terror on the Soviet Union, which the Soviets reciprocated on their march westward. Little quarter was given by either side. Civilians suffered the worst atrocities, but 3.3 million Soviet and 1.1 million German POWs died in captivity.
Red Army atrocities did not end with the fighting. Soviet soldiers raped as many as 2 million German women, from young girls to old women; an estimated 240,000 of them died from injuries, venereal disease and suicide as a result. Rapes also occurred in other occupied countries. When communist leader Milovan Djilas complained to Josef Stalin about the sexual assault perpetrated by Soviet troops in Yugoslavia, the premier replied, “Can’t you understand it if a soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometers through blood and fire and death has fun with a woman?”
Such brutality continued throughout the Cold War. When they invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Soviet forces encountered unexpected resistance, as they have in Ukraine. They responded with scorched earth and mass murder. They even used mines disguised as toys to maim children. More than 1.3 million Afghans, most of them civilians, died in what many experts describe as genocide.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the army of the newly created Russian Federation followed in the footsteps of its predecessor. Russia fought two wars against the breakaway republic of Chechnya (1994-1996 and 1999-2009). The second war, overseen by the new president Vladimir Putin, was particularly brutal. In addition to indiscriminate shelling of civilians, Russian forces engaged in summary executions, rape and looting. Atrocities were not spontaneous actions of rogue soldiers, but deliberate policy. “Without bespredel [no limits warfare], we’ll get nowhere in Chechnya,” one solider said, “We have to be cruel to them. Otherwise, we’ll achieve nothing.” Approximately 250,000 civilians died in the Chechen wars…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_crimes
Soviet war crimes
The war crimes and crimes against humanity which were perpetrated by the Soviet Union and its armed forces from 1919 to 1991 include acts which were committed by the Red Army (later called the Soviet Army) as well as acts which were committed by the NKVD, including acts which were committed by the NKVD’s Internal Troops. In some cases, these acts were committed upon the orders of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in pursuance of the early Soviet Government’s policy of Red Terror. In other instances they were committed without orders by Soviet troops against prisoners of war or civilians of countries that had been in armed conflict with the USSR, or they were committed during partisan warfare.[2]
A significant number of these incidents occurred in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe recently before, and during, the aftermath of World War II, involving summary executions and the mass murder of prisoners of war, such as in the Katyn massacre and mass rape by troops of the Red Army in territories they occupied…
http://www.colorq.org/humanrights/article.aspx?d=Afghanistan&x=soviet
Soviet Era: Russian soldiers rape Afghani civilians
The Afghan civil war, which started in 1979, prompted the Soviet army to intervene by occupying Afghanistan. During the 10 year occupation, Afghan civilians were raped by Soviets and their allies.
From Terra Viva article Court would have been Lifeline for Afghan Women:
Unfortunately, after the end of the Soviet occupation, warlords battled for power and started another round of mass rape against civilians.
Ron,
funny thing is ladies love outlaws (cowboys).
but i’m not sure they like them much.
Where Death Rates Rose the Most During the Pandemic
NY Times – May 23
just released:
New Residential Sales05/24/2022 10:00 AM EDTSales of new single-family houses in April 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000. This is 16.6 percent (+/- 10.4%) below the revised March 2022 estimate of 709,000.
April 2022: -16.6 % change
March 2022 (r): -10.5* % change
March was revised down from 763,000
(NB: the consensus was for a 750,000 rate in April, so we have a big miss)
Today another crazy MF with a gun got all the news coverage that he was dying to have.