By invading ukraine, Vladimir Putin will destroy the lives of people far from the battlefield—and on a scale even he may regret. The war is battering a global food system weakened by covid-19, climate change and an energy shock. Ukraine’s exports of grain and oilseeds have mostly stopped and Russia’s are threatened. Together, the two countries supply 12% of traded calories. Wheat prices, up 53% since the start of the year, jumped a further 6% on May 16th, after India said it would suspend exports because of an alarming heatwave.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February dramatically worsened the outlook for already inflated global food prices.

The halt in Ukrainian exports following the outbreak of the conflict pushed the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index, which tracks international prices of the most globally traded food commodities, to its highest point in March since records began in 1990.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a move Russia calls a "special operation" to demilitarise its neighbour, is the latest development in a growing global food crisis.

Families in Africa are seeing the price of wheat flour reach levels not seen in months as Russia continues to wage its war on Ukraine.

Most of the wheat sold in Somalia is imported from Ukraine and Russia, but exports through the Black Sea have been stopped since the Kremlin launched its invasion into its eastern European neighbor in late February.