(KYIV, UKRAINE) – Russian grain exports have fallen by 88% year on year as Ukraine’s blockade of the Azov and Black Seas continues to devastate the Russian economy, with farmers now demanding government intervention and miners threatening industrial action over unpaid wages.
Data released on 3rd September shows Russian grain exports collapsed from a 22% decline in the first ten days of August to 79% between 11th and 20th August, and now 88% in the final period. The collapse follows Ukraine’s sustained campaign against Russian shipping and port infrastructure.
Russian farmers are now pleading with the government to declare a state of force majeure. An emergency interregional meeting of farmers, grain merchants, banks and government officials was held in southern Russia over the weekend in an attempt to calm rising anger.
A farmer at the meeting stated: “We are simply begging you to consider the possibility of declaring a federal state of emergency in the sector or force majeure de facto and de jure.”
The farmer explained that agricultural producers borrow at 4% interest with farmland as collateral. Without force majeure protections, millions of farmers face losing their farms to banks.
“We have 60 million tons of grain. 90% can no longer be exported. So 2 million to 3 million of those tons can be exported from the Baltic. 3 million can also be covered by the Caspian. That makes a total of 6 million. Now we are left with a total of 54 million tons of grain which we don’t understand how or what to do with,” the farmer said.
A federal government representative responded: “Meaning Sabina and I are just discussing this issue. We’ll take it into consideration separately for now.”
Grain prices have fallen sharply. Wheat third class is down 28.9% over the past two months. Other grades have fallen 31.4%. The harvest season is now beginning.
The blockade has also affected 70% of Russian steel exports. Russia’s third largest industry faces mass bankruptcies.
The Russian rouble has weakened from approximately 71 to 1 US dollar in June to 88.5 to 1 US dollar currently.
In Russia’s Kuzbass region, a major coal producing area, thousands of unpaid miners are threatening to rise up after nearly a year without wages. The miners have invoked the 1990s rail war, when workers blocked railway lines and paralysed critical routes connecting eastern and western Russia.
A miner stated in a video appeal: “We are miners from the Severnaya Kuzbass coal mine. We are addressing the candidates for the State Duma who are running for election and asking for our votes. Prove through your actions you are running for a reason.”
The miner continued: “More than 1,700 people haven’t received their salaries and severance pay since October 2025. Many left. Others were forced to resign. But the debt owed to them remains and it has surpassed half a billion roubles.”
The half billion roubles is equivalent to approximately $5.6 million or £4.4 million.
“While the money for coal was spent on million rouble bonuses for management, they kept feeding us promises. This is a crime. And in Kuzbass, it repeats from mine to mine. We have no trust left in the company,” the miner said.
He added: “We are patient people. But Kuzbass remembers well what silence and unpaid wages to miners led to. Miners have always fought for their rights and if necessary, they will fight for them now.”
Moscow has pulled remaining gasoline stocks to the capital ahead of the State Duma elections, leaving the regions in severe shortage. In Moscow, 65% of service stations now have gasoline, up from 21% ten days ago. The improvement has come at the expense of regional supplies.
A Russian woman described her experience at a petrol station: “I pulled into a Rosneft and I see they only have 92 octane. I figure, oh well, at least I’ll pump some 92 for now. And they tell me, we only sell gas by ration cards.”
She continued: “A ration card is issued to you at the enterprise or organization where you work. I get in and I’m kind of taken aback. I mean, gas by coupons. What the f is actually going on? At this rate, we are going to have bread, milk, eggs and meat by coupons soon.”
In another incident, a woman filmed a man shaking his car to remove air bubbles and fit more fuel. The petrol station then announced over the loudspeaker: “Dear customers, the gas station is out of 92 octane. There is no 92 octane at the station.”
Russian military bloggers have acknowledged that Ukrainian strikes have reversed the trend of the war. Two of Russia’s most popular military commentators discussed the destruction of Wildberries warehouses, which cost an estimated 1 trillion roubles. The 1 trillion roubles is equivalent to approximately $12 billion or £9.3 billion.
One blogger compared the losses to the value of Ukraine’s town of Sloviansk: “All of Sloviansk, all the houses, all the streets, all the traffic lights, all the lamp posts, all the industrial facilities located on the territory of Sloviansk costs about 10 billion. All of Sloviansk costs 10 billion. And in a month from the strikes on Wildberries, we lost hypothetically 12 billion.”
The Russian government is selling state assets to fund the war. The state stake in the Novorossiysk port is expected to raise approximately $500 million, equivalent to approximately £390 million.
Russian military blogger Rybar has criticised the Kremlin’s battlefield claims. “What’s the reason for the Russian authorities’ reluctance to freeze the front along the line of contact? This reluctance is simply dictated by the fact that from the perspective of certain political circles, it won’t look like putting an end to the issue. It will look like a forced pause and caving to the terms of the West.”
Rybar added: “The enemy’s front isn’t collapsing and that is one of the biggest misconceptions. The enemy continues to act brazenly, aggressively. They continue to smartly use certain solutions in the field of drone operations. The Ukrainians continue to adapt and we are in fact fighting our mirror image which uses the same Starlink and thanks to it they maintain better communications than we do.”
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has claimed Russian troops have taken control of 14 settlements, including locations that military bloggers say do not exist or have not been captured.
“Spater has not been liberated. The level of the president’s misinformation is critical,” one blogger stated.
In June, Putin claimed Russian forces were 10.5 km from Sumy. Two months later, he claimed 12 km remained to the Sumy ring road. Sumy has no ring road.
In occupied Crimea, residents are openly criticising Putin. A woman stated: “There’s no more Crimea, guys. We lost it. Even our own government has ditched us by now. Everyone’s left. We’ve been left to deal with everything on our own. We’ll have to clean up this mess ourselves.”
She added: “No development at all. Things only got worse under Russia. We started living like cavemen. Thanks to Putin for this. He destroyed everything and screwed us over. Old bastard.”
Russia’s Starlink rival has suffered further setbacks. None of the 16 Russian Rassvet satellites launched on 19th July to create a Starlink analogue have reached their planned orbit. By 31st August, the satellites had not reached an altitude of 550 km. Many remain at 300 to 400 km. At least two are heading towards re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
Germany has suffered a second major physical attack on its power grid in 24 hours. The German government has officially blamed Russia for attempting to blow up a cargo plane at Leipzig airport less than a month ago. Several Russian passport holders have been taken into custody.
Russian state media has begun promoting a narrative that Germany is not a legitimate country, calling for the restoration of East Germany and the severing of diplomatic relations.
Major General Nikolai Varakovich, commander of Russia’s 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, was reportedly shot near a private residence in Saratov Oblast at approximately 7:00 a.m. The attacker allegedly ambushed Varakovich in the settlement of Pougachevo, firing two pistol rounds that hit him in the head and abdomen. He is in critical condition. The gunman remains at large.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has signalled a possible breakthrough in negotiations, noting that regular contact is maintained between negotiating parties. “I believe that with the resumption in Ukraine, there have been no holidays, no pauses. We are fighting for our land. We are fighting for a just peace. And now we will have a new dynamic in peace efforts with the return of this active phase of negotiations in many capitals of the world,” Sybiha said.
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