While soldiers fight, Ukrainians face another threat: hunger
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Noah Robertson Staff writer
| KHERSON, UKRAINE
On a freezing day in Kherson鈥檚 Tavricheskii District, about 300 people wait in line beside apartment buildings, next to a small park. A van pulls up. World Central Kitchen volunteers wearing orange vests and black body armor open the back doors, and in 15 minutes, fill every open hand with a Styrofoam container holding a hot meal.
The van then heads to another drop-off by more residential buildings 鈥� one of which was partially destroyed by a September artillery attack. As the volunteers distribute bags of food, Russian shelling can be heard hitting the city somewhere in the distance.
Still the locals 鈥� parents, pet owners, children, seniors, one person with a herd of goats 鈥� keep forming a line. In Kherson, one doesn鈥檛 ignore two weeks of free groceries.
Why We Wrote This
Food security has become critical to Ukraine's defense against the Russian invasion. Volunteers willing to drive and hand out much needed groceries to cities under siege are key to that effort.
Still, 鈥渨e have a feeling that there鈥檚 enough food鈥� in the city, says Natalia Levinskaya, one of the volunteers. 鈥淲e are not the only ones who help.鈥�
Food access has become a battlefront in Ukraine鈥檚 war. Almost a year ago, Russia began a blockade of the Black Sea ports that handled 70% of Ukraine鈥檚 prewar imports and exports, putting a vice on the economy and . Inside the country, especially near the front lines, food insecurity can be an almost daily threat. Were access to dip even slightly, a city like Kherson could face a humanitarian crisis.
Aid workers like Ms. Levinskaya have helped keep that crisis from becoming reality. Each day she arrives at a distribution center in Mykolaiv at 7 a.m. and then delivers hundreds, if not thousands, of meals until as late as 10 p.m. She and her team of volunteers are in the phalanx of Ukraine鈥檚 wartime civil society, which has met need after need since last February and sustained their country鈥檚 fight on the home front.聽
鈥淭his is always the case in Ukraine,鈥� says Oleg Nivievskyi, a professor at the Kyiv School of Economics鈥� Center for Food and Land Use Research. 鈥淲hen there is an opportunity, Ukrainians are very entrepreneurial and can find ways to deliver the food.鈥�
鈥淣ot just about food availability鈥�
Each week Professor Nivievskyi of 21 staple groceries like flour, bread, and eggs, along with the average salary in each region of Ukraine. Together, the data form an index of food security, which is essentially an estimate of how much food people can afford in each part of the country. As of September, depending on the area, the food-buying power of the average Ukrainian had had fallen by as much as 44%, according to .
鈥淔ood security is not just about food availability,鈥� says Professor Nivievskyi. 鈥淭his is also about the incomes.鈥�
By October last year, the last month for which data is available, the World Bank , among the highest rates in the world. That鈥檚 been particularly difficult for citizens with fixed salaries.
Maria, an elderly woman wearing a thick brown coat, grabs a bag of groceries from the volunteers and stands to the side. She and her husband live on pensions, which now buy less than they used to, and can be difficult to access. In early December, they had to collect their pension from another bank further away because the local branch closed due to shelling.
鈥淚 have something at home, of course 鈥� some reserves,鈥� she says, looking down at her bag of food. 鈥淏ut this helps.鈥�
Kherson is far different than cities like Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa, where supply chains are working almost like normal. Even in a battered city like Mykolaiv, about 45 miles northwest of Kherson, grocery stores are fully stocked with fresh fruit and meat.
鈥淪ome of [the supply is coming from] normal market transactions 鈥� food being imported from Western Europe,鈥� says Elizabeth Cullen Dunn, who studies food security at the University of Indiana, Bloomington.
Ukraine is an agricultural powerhouse, which helps when war threatens domestic food security, she says. Agricultural products accounted for around 40% of prewar exports and only 10% of prewar imports. Grain and other foodstuffs trapped inside the country due to Russia鈥檚 blockade 鈥� partially eased by 鈥� can also feed Ukrainians.
In addition, says Professor Nivievskyi, Kyiv has relaxed some requirements for food imports since the war. Labels, for example, no longer need to be translated into Ukrainian.
It鈥檚 only in areas near the front lines where food availability and affordability are both acute. At the start of December, Kherson 鈥� whose population has hovered around 70,000 since liberation 鈥� only had one open grocery store.
In cities like this, says Professor Dunn, volunteer networks keep the food supply stable.
鈥淲e just wanted to help鈥�
Last spring in Mykolaiv, Ms. Levinskaya, her brother, and her son all quit their jobs. War had come to their hometown, and they decided they were going to start volunteering.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter for us鈥� what kind of work we did, says Ms. Levinskaya. 鈥淲e just wanted to help.鈥�
At first, they started dropping off food unofficially, distributing 10 to 20 kits a day with the help of local officials. They later joined World Central Kitchen, one of the largest nongovernmental organizations operating inside Ukraine, to expand their reach.
Each day, after loading hundreds of prepackaged bags into their vans, the family flashes their IDs at military checkpoints and visits points in Kherson marked on a map the night before. When artillery attacks land nearby, they have to speed somewhere else. Otherwise, people will keep lining up, putting themselves in danger.
A single day鈥檚 worth of deliveries can be up to 6,000 meals, though the number varies widely. The most people they ever saw queued for a single drop was 1,500.
鈥淎ll the people are in need,鈥� says Ms. Levinskaya. 鈥淚t鈥檚 younger people, older people, people who don鈥檛 have jobs, families 鈥� they need food.鈥�
Their bags of food are full of pasta, sugar, meat, flour, oil, and other nonperishables 鈥� a two-week supply for one person. 鈥淭hese are the best food packages that you can find,鈥� says Ms. Levinskaya. 鈥淧eople call these the 鈥榩residential packages.鈥欌�� Her son jokes that they鈥檙e fit for President Volodymyr聽Zelenskyy.
Their own income is less luxurious. Since leaving work, the family relies on government unemployment aid to pay bills. 鈥淲e get used to it,鈥� says Ms. Levinskaya. 鈥淭his is the way you can be at least helpful.鈥�
Regardless, she says, everyone鈥檚 adapting. In early December, Kherson had little access to electricity, and many lacked water. People whose gas stoves still worked could cook inside. Those who didn鈥檛 had to heat their food on campfires outside.
The work to meet that kind of demand is immense 鈥� but so is the reward, says Ms. Levinskaya.
鈥淵ou feel satisfied and you feel joy,鈥� she says, 鈥渢he joy that people need you and you do something to help them.鈥�
Oleksandr Naselenko supported the reporting of this article.
