Russia is using missiles designed for high-value targets like warships and airfields to hit Ukraine's grain exports, UK says

• Russia has been targeting Ukraine's grain production since its invasion, hurting global food supplies.
• It's using AS-4 Kitchen and AS23a Kodiak missiles to hit targets like grain silos, the UK MOD said.

Russia is using missiles that are designed to be used on "high-value targets" to hit Ukraine's food supply and hurt global food prices, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

The UK MOD said on Sunday that Russia is using AS-4 Kitchen and AS23a Kodiak missiles that were "originally designed to target high value targets such as warships and airfields" to strike grain silos.

That means Russia is "using its most valuable weaponry to target Ukrainian agriculture and hurt global food markets," it said.

The AS-4 Kitchen missile, which Russia calls Kh-22 Storm, was designed to sink aircraft carriers and is known to be highly inaccurate and cause a lot of collateral damage when used over land, Insider's Ryan Pickrell previously reported.

AS23a Kodiak missiles, called Kh-101 by Russia, carry a 992-pound warhead and can be equipped with high explosive, penetrating, or cluster warheads, think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, adding that Russia previously said it used them against ISIS command posts and ammunition depots.

The MOD said Russia is now using both kinds of missiles to "de-stabilise world food prices and disrupt Ukraine's grain industry."

"A grain silo is not recognised by any international body as being a legitimate military target," it added.

Since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has been striking silos and farmland, while also heavily mining fields and blocking Ukraine from exporting grain.

Global food prices have risen as a result, and experts warn of famines in some countries if Ukraine's food exports fall far enough.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest wheat and sunflower oil exporters, and disruption to what it can grow and ship can raise global food prices and also create huge shortages.

The UN warned in March 2022 that Russia's invasion could spark a global famine.

In July 2022, Russia agreed to allow ships transporting grain to leave Ukraine, but it pulled out of the deal in July 2023, sparking new, dire warnings from experts about the world's food supply.

Ukraine has had to look for new routes to export its grain.