We traveled to Ukraine and the port of Odessa to watch the harvest of the war.
Faith attracts hundreds to a church in Odessa, a city where, every day, war displaced people gather 10,000 loaves of hope. They come, wearing the clothes of a previous life, with nothing in their bags – no job, no home – just a chance to endure another day of war without hunger. On the corner, those who already had enough worries gather mercy in boxes that feed a family of four for two weeks. Pasta, oil, canned meat. It weighs 38 and a half kilos, so a mom can really use one hand. In Ukraine, the United Nations World Food Program operates hundreds of such sites.
Scott Pelley: How many people are afraid you might starve in this country?
In Odessa, we spoke with David Beasley, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program.
David Beasley: You have to assume that millions are at stake right now. We are already reaching about 2 million. We hope to escalate to 4 million in the coming weeks and 6 million after that. It will depend on two things: money and access.
But access to war victims in the heavily besieged cities of eastern Ukraine has been cut off.
David Beasley: We can not approach them. We are blocked. We can not enter the besieged cities like Mariupol, Mykolaiv and Hersonissos, and I could go on and on. They must be hungry.
Scott Pelley: Why wouldn’t the Russians allow food to be delivered to hungry people?
David Beasley: It’s beyond imagination. Why would you deny the innocent victims of the war, the non-combatants? It’s just wrong, bad.
Bad, seen by Andrii Khludov.
Hanna, Rostyslav and Andrii Khludov
Khludov’s family escaped. Their homeland, Mariupol, had 400,000 inhabitants. The Russian forces could not stand it, so they bombed Mariupol until it was destroyed.
Andrii Khludov (translation): We all lost loved ones, relatives, homes, jobs. I mean all that we would call normal everyday life, everything is gone.
Scott Pelley: You shot a video in Mariupol. Why did you shoot it and what is on it?
Andrii Khludov (translation): I made the video to let people know what was really going on.
Khludov recorded the data somewhat numb from the shells thundering from afar.
It is a tour of misery, squares of crumbling apartment buildings and craters on earth.
Andrii Khludov (translation): There are no intact houses, shops, pharmacies or schools left.
His partner, Hanna, said, “I had a nervous breakdown. Human beings are not prepared for such things.”
Rostyslav, is a 15-year-old man dressed in hope over experience.
Rostyslav (translation): Houses were hit by missiles, apartments, cars were blown up. We had graves in our yards, many graves.
Scott Pelley: Vladimir Putin says he is liberating the people of Ukraine.
Andrii Khludov (translation): Oh, it frees us – from housing, friends, relatives, comfort, work, home. Freeing us from life. If murder is liberating, then they set us free.
Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov and correspondent Scott Pelley walk through a bombed-out building in Odessa
Odessa is fed up with liberation. This month, an oil terminal was destroyed. Then, on April 23, the day before Orthodox Easter, a rocket pierced a four-story hole in this apartment building on Korol’ova Street. Valeria Glodan and her 3-month-old daughter, Kira, were killed along with six others. 145 are homeless. The mayor of Odessa, Gennadiy Trukhanov, took us to see the world up close.
Gennadiy Trukhanov (translation): These are ordinary people in these apartments. They were preparing for Easter. Everyone cooks Easter cakes, they cook food. A family celebration.
Scott Pelley: Who would give such an order?
Gennadiy Trukhanov (translation): This could only be done by non-humans. When I turn to God, I ask him to enlighten Russian soldiers, Russian officers, so that they do not lose their humanity. At least those who have not already lost it.
Through the weave of the armor, we spotted Lyudmyla. She and her children were not home that morning, but her husband was.
Lyudmyla (translation): My husband was sitting right there, right behind you. And at the time of the explosion it came out of the window, but it burned badly.
Andrei burned more than 40% of his body.
Lyudmyla (translation): My husband will recover. All the money we had was burned. I have nothing left. But I have many friends. And people help, so everything will be fine.
Lion mill
Optimism, wiped out by insufficient materials, seems to prevail in Odessa. This settlement in the Black Sea started almost 3,000 years ago. Today, one and a half million people defy the Russians simply by spending their day — intermittently interrupted by sirens and a recorded voice — “Dear citizens, cover up.”
The port of Odessa is closed. Something that has cut off one of the largest food exporters in the world. Ukraine, the size of Texas, is number four in corn and wheat, number one in sunflower oil. David Beasley told us that half the wheat needed by the World Food Program is stuck in Ukraine.
David Beasley: Ukraine is the basket of the world. They grow enough food to feed 400 million people. Well, that’s gone. You already see a sharp rise in fuel pricing, a sharp rise in food pricing, a sharp rise in shipping costs. It is already wreaking havoc on the poorest of the poor around the world. But this will not only affect the poorest of the poor. It will affect everyone.
Beasley is the former governor of South Carolina. He has been in charge of the UN World Food Program for five years. The $ 10 billion agency is fighting hunger, poverty, crop failure and war. Today, in 81 countries, WFP feeds more than 145 million people.
David Beasley
In 2016, we were with them in South Sudan as they dumped food in villages cut off by monsoon rains.
David Beasley: Well, when you think it could not get worse, Ethiopia, Afghanistan. And you say, “It just can’t get any worse.” Then boom, Ukraine. Bread of the world, now rows of bread.
The loss of this Ukrainian bread basket could be felt around the world for years, according to Arif Husein, chief economist at WFP.
Arif Husain: This is the time for farmers to be out there and plant corn.
Scott Pelley: Right now?
Arif Husain: Right now. This is their time. And it is not. Why; Because farmers are soldiers. Why; Because there is not enough diesel. Look at the wheat. Right now, the ground is what winter wheat is. You need pesticides. It needs fertilizer. The same issues. No work, no fuel, no machinery. Our estimates are between 30 and 50 percent that will actually be harvested. Would it have an impact on the world? Hell yes, it will have an impact on the world.
Arif Hussein
David Beasley: We need to open these ports. You have to open them and we have to protect them so that food can circulate in and out of this country for the rest of the world. It is a humanitarian need, the people demand it, we must have these ports open, we must.
Scott Pelley: You seem to be suggesting that NATO warships should come to the Black Sea to secure shipping out of port.
David Beasley: I’m a humanist, but it’s not complicated. World leaders need to unite in some way and find a way to protect these sea lanes. The ports must be opened. So whatever the world leaders need to do, I will leave it to them. But I know one thing, our time is running out.
Time and money. David Beasley told us that his budget is small at $ 10 billion worldwide due to the rising costs of fuel, food, shipping, all multiplied by COVID.
Fighting hunger Archive of 60 Minutes 13:38
David Beasley: Scott, before Ukraine I already cut the rations for millions of people around the world. We have already reduced the diets of over 8 million people to 50%. Imagine saying to your child, “I can only feed you half of what you need to have a healthy diet.”
Scott Pelley: How do you prioritize?
David Beasley: So we take food from hungry children and give it to hungry children. This is what we are doing right now.
Despite reaching millions, even in half portions, Beasley is more concerned about those who are likely to starve in Russian-occupied Ukraine. He is personally negotiating with Russia for access.
David Beasley: I wrote. I have called. I know that the United Nations is generally doing what it can to give us access because we are impartial. We are neutral. And all we ask is “Give us access to the innocent victims of this war.”
Scott Pelley: But it is in the interest of the Russians to starve these people.
David Beasley: Well, it would definitely look like that, wouldn’t it?
Food is now a weapon in this war. A restaurant that was cooking for the disaster management organization, World Central Kitchen, was hit in …
