Key facts
- Kernel said Russian drones deliberately targeted its processing sites, damaging production buildings, equipment and storage tanks.
- Kernel suspended all seed purchases alongside the plant shutdown, per its November 12 press release.
- Kernel said it maintains full operational and financial stability and continued shipping inventory from warehouses.
- Kernel owns eight oil extraction plants with annual capacity of up to 3.5 million metric tons of sunflower seeds.
- Before Russia's full-scale invasion, Kernel accounted for about 9% of global sunflower oil production, the company said.
Kernel Holding, Ukraine's largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, said in a press release on November 12, 2026 that it had suspended operations at all eight of its oil extraction plants because of Russian strikes. The company said Russian drones had deliberately targeted production sites at Ukrainian processing facilities, including its assets, damaging production buildings, equipment and storage tanks.
Kernel said the fire risk in sunflower oil extraction meant a drone strike could cause large-scale fires and endanger personnel, and that employee safety drove the decision. It said all workers were safe and that it had also suspended all seed purchases. The company said it maintains full operational and financial stability and continued to ship inventory from its warehouses and fulfill prior agreements with Ukrainian farmers.
The night before the announcement, Ukraine's Air Force reported that Russia launched Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic missiles, Zircon anti-ship missiles and 123 long-range attack drones, including 72 jet-powered drones, across the country. Eight oblasts reported damage. The Air Force said the assault primarily targeted energy and transportation infrastructure.
Two days before Kernel's announcement, a source in Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent that Russia was preparing strikes on food industry facilities across Ukraine, listing sunflower oil production plants among the targets along with grain storage sites, dairy factories, meat processing plants and poultry farms. The source said the attacks were meant to destabilize food security, inflict economic damage and increase Russia's share of global agriculture exports.
Kernel exports sunflower oil products worldwide and provides storage for grains and seeds. Before Russia's full-scale invasion, it accounted for about 9% of global sunflower oil production and was the world's top producer and exporter of the product, according to the company. It owns eight oil extraction plants with annual processing capacity of up to 3.5 million metric tons of sunflower seeds.