Putin’s Strategic Use of Hunger as a Weapon in War
Vladimir Putin has leveraged hunger as a multifaceted weapon in both international conflicts and domestic governance, employing it to destabilize adversaries abroad and consolidate control at home, all in support of his ambition to restore Russia to the influence and territorial reach of the former Soviet Union. His strategy in Ukraine exemplifies the use of food scarcity as a method of warfare: Russian forces have systematically targeted critical agricultural infrastructure, including farmlands, grain transport routes, and storage silos, causing direct destruction and rendering ports inaccessible. By mining fields and blockading ports, Russia has effectively starved many Ukrainian regions into submission, with besieged cities such as Mariupol experiencing extreme deprivation, as evacuation routes were blocked and humanitarian relief was systematically denied. This deliberate orchestration of hunger constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and has been cited as a war crime by human rights organizations.
Restoring the Russian Federation to Soviet Glory: Geopolitical Motives
Putin’s use of hunger is directly connected to his ideological objective of restoring Russia to a status resembling its Soviet past. From the earliest years of his leadership, Putin has lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union, famously calling it a "geopolitical catastrophe," and has pursued policies aimed at reasserting Russian influence over former Soviet territories. Military campaigns in Ukraine fit into this broader strategy—actions designed to reclaim what he considers Russia’s "legitimate zones of interest". The manipulation of food supplies externally, through blockade and destruction, and internally, through economic hardship, serves this pursuit by weakening Ukraine and poor countries dependent on Ukrainian grain, while incentivizing domestic enlistment in military campaigns to realize territorial ambitions.
Global Impact: The War in Ukraine, Food Insecurity, and Poor Countries
Ukraine, long known as "the breadbasket of Europe," is a leading global grain exporter, supplying vital commodities such as wheat, maize, and sunflower oil to numerous countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Russia’s invasion has devastated Ukraine’s agricultural productivity and blocked the export of millions of tons of grain, causing a dramatic contraction in global food supply and sending prices soaring. Poor countries, many already food-insecure, were hit hardest: in some, staple food prices doubled almost overnight, while in others, critical shortages led to outright famine conditions. For example, countries like Somalia and Yemen, which rely on Ukraine and Russia for up to 90% of their wheat imports, experienced immediate food crises. The Food Price Index, a standard measure, showed that food prices in 2022 had risen 12–13% above pre-war levels even as they later moderated.
International Community Intervention: The Black Sea Grain Initiative
The international response was swift and coordinated. Recognizing that millions faced increased hunger due to the blockade, the United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) in July 2022, negotiating with both Russia and Ukraine to allow the safe passage of commercial vessels carrying grain and foodstuffs from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. This critical agreement set up Joint Coordination Centers for inspection and established safe corridors protected from military intervention. For 12 months, the BSGI enabled the shipment of over 33 million metric tons of grain to 45 countries, with 65% of the wheat reaching developing nations. The BSGI’s collapse in July 2023, when Russia withdrew citing unfulfilled demands, again caused prices to rise and exacerbated global uncertainty about food supplies.
Hunger at Home: Seed Shortages and Domestic Food Insecurity in Russia
Putin has also wielded the tool of hunger against his own population by creating or exacerbating food production shortages. A major contributing policy is the restriction of seed imports—a vital agricultural input—under the justification of achieving food sovereignty and strategic self-sufficiency. As foreign seed companies exited the Russian market after sanctions, and the government imposed strict import quotas, the cost of seeds for farmers nearly doubled, which, when combined with bureaucratic obstacles in quota distribution, led to large-scale seed shortages. Despite the technical simplicity and low cost of supplying farmers with seeds, the Russian government’s import restrictions and lack of support have left many unable to plant sufficient crops, causing falls in grain and potato outputs as high as 14–20% in 2024. Notably, sizeable stocks of seeds sometimes languish at customs, needlessly destroyed or returned due to bureaucratic obstacles.
The Simplicity of Supplying Seeds and Governmental Failure
It is relatively easy and inexpensive to provide farmers with seeds—a logistical effort familiar to any modern farming nation, requiring only the acquisition or subsidized distribution of commercial seed varieties. The Russian government's failure in this basic obligation stems not from material constraints but from policy choice, as import quotas and lack of development in domestic seed production persist despite warnings from industry leaders about the risks to future harvests and food supplies. The result is a chronic vulnerability in Russia’s agricultural sector and unnecessary food insecurity.
Food Prices in Russia and the Suffering of the Population
As a direct consequence of these agricultural policy failures and supply disruptions, food inflation in Russia has accelerated to crisis levels, with consumer prices rising by 9.5% in 2024, one of the highest rates in 15 years. Essential commodities, including vegetables and dairy products, have seen pronounced increases—prices for some goods like butter rose by 34% year-over-year, and real pension incomes declined as inflation outpaced wage growth. Even though overall official hunger statistics have remained relatively low, these aggregate figures obscure the fact that millions of Russians now devote a much greater share of their diminished household budgets to food, amplifying the experience of both poverty and food insecurity in daily life.
How Hunger and Poverty Encourage Military Enlistment
The link between food insecurity, poverty, and increased likelihood of military enlistment has become especially salient under the current Russian regime. In regions hit hardest by agricultural decline and inflation, impoverished Russians are more likely to consider joining the military as a way out of economic desperation, as military service offers comparatively higher rewards, a stable income, and additional benefits. Thus, hunger and poverty function as coercive tools, ensuring a supply of soldiers for Putin’s ongoing war campaigns, which are themselves designed to reclaim Russia’s Soviet-era territory and prestige.
The Deliberate Neglect of Simple Solutions
The root of these problems lies not in technical or economic incapacity but in deliberate policy choices. Supplying Russian farmers with seeds, fertilizer, and support would be a straightforward solution to much of Russia’s domestic food insecurity, yet the government has chosen import restrictions, underinvestment, and bureaucratic inertia, prioritizing geopolitical objectives and control over agricultural or economic rationality. By maintaining this state of suffering, the administration manipulates both domestic and foreign crises to its own advantage.
The Betrayal of Democratic Principles in the 1993 Constitution
Putin’s approach stands in stark contrast to the democratic principles enshrined in Russia’s 1993 Constitution, which guarantees the sovereignty and well-being of the people, economic opportunity, social protections, and the right to free elections and self-governance. The documented narrowing of political competition, disregard for the rule of law, and chronic neglect of basic socio-economic needs suggest that today's governance diverges sharply from these foundational principles, as decision-making power is increasingly concentrated in the executive and substantial elements of the population are systematically disenfranchised or left to suffer.
Farmers’ Historical Power to Challenge Russian Leadership
Historically, Russian farmers (the peasantry) have played a vital role in the downfall of regimes, most notably during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Food shortages and the government’s inability to procure and distribute grain precipitated not only mass unrest but also army mutiny and the eventual abdication of the Tsar. Subsequently, peasant resistance to forced requisitioning and collectivization was so extensive that it shaped the trajectory of the Civil War and Soviet power consolidation. Farmers, by controlling food production and participating in rural uprisings, have repeatedly demonstrated their latent capacity to influence government legitimacy and even trigger revolution in times of acute economic distress. The present regime’s neglect of peasant and rural welfare, and its suppression of the agricultural sector, carries the inherent risk that, if mobilized, farmers could again become a pivotal force for political change.
In sum, Vladimir Putin has systemically weaponized hunger both internationally—by using food as a means of war in Ukraine and destabilizing poor nations—and domestically, by neglecting simple agricultural solutions and leveraging poverty to fuel military recruitment in support of revanchist territorial goals. These strategies stand in direct opposition to both international humanitarian obligations and the democratic promises of the Russian constitution, and historically, such exploitation of rural distress has the potential to foster powerful opposition from below.
