Russia’s new drive to crush Ukraine | FT #shorts

As a glorious summer draws to a close, across the Ukrainian steppe silos are brimming with a bumper harvest. For farmers such as Volodymyr Varbanets, who has worked the same stretch of land since the 1970s when it was a Soviet collective farm, it should be a season to celebrate. Yet it is not.⁠ ⁠ Thanks to Russia’s ferocious new bombing campaign against ships in the Black Sea and Ukraine’s cities and ports, the mounds of barley, sunflower seeds and wheat in Varbanets’ giant barn are stranded. Increasingly, the grizzled 76-year-old fears his crop will end up rotting where it lies.⁠ ⁠ The scene of thwarted abundance, mirrored at farms across Ukraine, reflects a dramatic shift in momentum in the four-and-a-half-year conflict. It has grave implications not just for global food supplies but for Ukraine’s economy, its survival strategy and potentially the course of the war, explains the FT's Alec Russell.⁠ ► Enjoying FT content? Get a daily slice of the very best FT journalism with FT Edit. Free for 30 days then just £4.99 a month See if you get the FT for free as a student (http://ft.com/schoolsarefree) or start a £1 trial: https://subs.ft.com/spa3_trial?segmentId=3d4ba81b-96bb-cef0-9ece-29efd6ef2132. ► Check out our Community tab for more stories: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes/community ► Listen to our podcasts: https://www.ft.com/podcasts ► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialtimes ► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@financialtimes