Current War Situation in Ukraine (December 22 Update)

Agricultural and Rural Ukraine

Current War Situation in Ukraine

War news

December 20

  • russia fired five ballistic missiles at Kyiv at around 7 a.m. on Friday.
  • the total number of people injured as a result of the missile strike is 13.
  • One person has been killed.
  • The attack damaged 6 foreign embassies in Kyiv: Albania, Argentina, Palestine, North Macedonia, Portugal, and Montenegro.

December 21

  • Russian drones hit Brovary high-rise.
  • Fragments from one of the drones fell on a building in Kyiv region.
  • A fire broke out afterward.
  • No information about casualties has been reported.

Chornobyl accident

  • December 14 is the Day of honoring the liquidators of the Chornobyl accident.
  • The russian occupation administration never cared about people’s lives.
  • The disaster released 11 tons of nuclear fuel into the atmosphere. 8.5 million people were exposed to radiation.
  • 600,000 people took part in the liquidation of the disaster.

Harvesting

73.6 mln tons of new grain and oilseed crops were harvested on an area of ​​19.5 mln ha.

In total, 53.9 mln tons of grains and almost 19.7 mln tons of oilseeds were harvested:

  • wheat – 22.4 mln tons;
  • barley – 5.6 mln tons;
  • peas – 469 thousand tons;
  • corn – 24.2 mln tons;
  • millet – 161.3 K tons;
  • buckwheat – 131.7 K tons;
  • sunflower – 10.2mln tons;
  • soybeans – 6mln tons;
  • rapeseed – 3.5mln tons.

Planting

  • Ukraine planted 5.188 mln ha of winter crops for the 2025 harvest, which is 97.6% of the forecast.
  • The planned areas were not planted, mostly in the frontline regions due to the threat of shelling.
  • Nevertheless, Ukrainian farmers sowed more winter grains this year than for the 2024 harvest (4.905 mln ha).

Most of the winter grains were planted in the southern regions and Dnipropetrovs’k region:

  • in Odesa oblast– 760 K ha;
  • in Dnipropetrovska oblast– 567 K ha;
  • in Mykolaiv oblast – 503.1 K ha.

Export

  • Export volumes of grains and oilseeds in the first 15 days of December 2024/25 MY decreased significantly compared to previous months.
  • During this period, Ukraine exported 1.448 mln tons of grain and oilseeds.
  • This is 38% less than in November and 47% less than in the first half of October.
  • The most exported crop is corn – 9,622 K tons.
  • At the same time, exports of sunflower meal increased to 202 K tons compared to 157 K tons in November.

Export: year results

  • Total agricultural exports in the 2024/25 MY are expected to be 77 mln tons.
  • The volume of exports of grain and leguminous crops from Ukraine in 2024/25 MY amounted to 20.3 mln tons, which is 4.3 mln tons, or 27% more than in the same period last season.

 

  • About 9.4 mln tons of wheat were shipped this season, which is 40% more than last year’s volumes.
  • This means that 58% of wheat has already been exported from the total amount agreed in the grain memorandum (16.2 mln tons).
  • The supply of barley to foreign markets amounted to 1.95 mln tons, which is twice as much as in the same period last year.
  • 10.8 K tons of rye were shipped, which is 12 times more than last season (0.9 K tons).
  • 8.6 mln tons of corn were exported, which is 5% more than shipments on the same date last season.
  • Flour exports amounted to 36 K tons, which is 34% less than last year’s figure.

 

  • Exports of sugar this season may become the largest in the last 24 years.
  • More than 700 K tons of sugar are expected to be delivered to foreign markets. This is the highest figure since 2000.
  • Since the beginning of the 2024/25 MY, the EU has imported 2.87 mln tons of Ukrainian wheat.
  • Grain supplies from Canada are almost 5 times smaller.