Putin starves millions

Vladimir Putin’s atrocities are growing by the day. In addition to having the blood of Ukrainians on his hands from his completely unjustified war, the Russian leader is also responsible for the growing starvation of people around the world.

Ukraine is the breadbasket for much of the Middle East and North Africa. Right now, Putin is preventing Ukrainian grain from leaving the port of Odessa and along other key Black Sea routes. The result is dire: Global food prices are at an all-time high, and 276 million people are now food insecure—more than double the numbers from 2019.

Sri Lanka is the latest example of how devastating Putin’s global food crisis is becoming. The island nation has nearly run out of food and fuel. People are lining up for days for what little is still available. As one desperate father told Reuters, “Without food, we are going to die.”

Putin’s next moves will decide whether much of the developing world experiences mass hunger and even famine this year and next. World leaders are urging the Russian leader to at least allow grain shipments out of Ukraine to help feed tens of millions of people in countries that rely heavily on imported food—such as Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Yemen, Sudan, Lebanon, Tanzania, Uganda, Egypt, Tunisia and Cameroon.

With 20 million metric tons of grain and corn sitting in storage at Ukrainian ports right now, there’s only so much the rest of the world can do. Putin’s war is on the verge of becoming Putin’s global famine.