Wladimir Klitschko: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing a ‘world food crisis’

Wladimir Klitschko—the legendary heavyweight boxing champion and brother to the current mayor of Kyiv—has issued a warning about a looming “world food crisis.” Speaking…

By: Karim Zidan | 11 months ago
Wladimir Klitschko: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing a ‘world food crisis’
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Wladimir Klitschko—the legendary heavyweight boxing champion and brother to the current mayor of Kyiv—has issued a warning about a looming “world food crisis.”

Speaking on ‘Mornings with Maria’ on Fox Business, Klitschko revealed that hundreds of millions of people will go hungry if Ukraine is unable to deliver the necessary wheat and grain.

“Ukraine has been providing food for a lot of countries in Asia and Africa,” Klitschko told FOX Business. “Half a billion people will be put to hunger because we cannot deliver grain that grows in Ukraine, which we’ve been doing for the past decades.”

Ukraine, which is known as the “breadbasket of the world,” has been unable to deliver grain due to Russian forces’ blockade of Ukrainian ports, as well as the invading country’s destruction of grain silos and agricultural machinery. Before the war, most of Ukraine’s wheat and corn were shipped through the Black Sea.

Russia and Ukraine export a combined third of the world’s wheat and barley, more than 70% of its sunflower oil and are prominent suppliers of corn. Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, alone imports 80% of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia. Estimates suggest that approximately 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain have been prevented from reaching the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia.

According to the United Nations. food prices as of April 2022 were 34% higher than they were one year ago.

Klitschko noted that a correlated support effort from world leaders and allies could help stem the tide of global hunger and show Russia that “this invasion was a big mistake.”

“I think the world food crisis will continue, as well as any other crisis, on the energetic side as well,” Klitschko said. “If we act together, we can do it. We can stop it.”

Share this story

About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

More from the author

Recent Stories