But could Russian officials’ actions in withdrawing and enforcing the withdrawal constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity under international criminal law? The ICC may have jurisdiction It is imperative that Russian officials are held accountable for the starvation and suffering that the withdrawal from the Initiative causes. Ukraine supplied over half of the World Food Programme’s wheat exports in 2022, which went to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen-areas where there is “ acute humanitarian need.” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Martin Griffiths said that in the absence of the Initiative “ome will go hungry, some will starve, many may die.” As of July 10, the UN estimated that in the year since the Initiative was brokered, thirty-two million tons of food commodities had been exported from Ukraine to forty-five countries. However, Russia’s withdrawal from the Initiative extends the effects of its starvation tactics beyond Ukraine. Russia has previously been accused of using hunger as a weapon following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including during the siege of Mariupol. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the European Council both characterized Russia’s withdrawal from the Initiative as “weaponizing food.” Since then, Russian drones have destroyed grain warehouses on Ukraine’s Danube River ports and Russia is reportedly preparing to blockade Ukraine. On July 17, Russia announced that it had withdrawn from the Black Sea Grain Initiative (“the Initiative”), a deal brokered in 2022 by the United Nations (UN) and Turkey that allowed Ukraine to safely export grain through the Black Sea.
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