Russian propaganda spreading false claims about Ukrainian land sold to 'half the world'

Russian media outlets, including those in Central Asia, as well as Georgian networks, English-language pro-Russian websites, pro-war Telegram channels, Ukrainian collaborators in Russia, State Duma deputies, and bots on Facebook and YouTube, are sharing a map of Ukraine that excludes the temporarily occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea. The map falsely claims that Ukrainian agricultural land has been sold to companies from the United States, China, France, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and Ukrainian oligarchs. It also alleges that 23% of the land was sold to "unknown" foreign owners.

The propaganda further claims that on July 8, 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky supposedly "transferred the country's economic sovereignty" to the American investment company BlackRock, allegedly doubling his fortune to $1.5 billion.

These claims are entirely false. Russian "analysis" is based on dubious sources, none of which hold up under scrutiny. The assertion that Ukraine sold its economic sovereignty is pure fabrication, unsupported by any evidence beyond the propagandists' own assumptions.

Propagandists claim that 9% of Ukraine's agricultural land -- equivalent to the size of Belgium -- was leased to China's Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for 99 years in 2013.

On September 23, 2013, reports surfaced in global media claiming that the Ukrainian state agricultural company KSG Agro had agreed to lease three million hectares of land in the Dnipropetrovsk region to the mentioned Chinese company for 50 years, with an annual payment of $2.6 billion by the Chinese.

However, this information proved false. The following day, KSG Agro representatives refuted the report. The source of the claim was a little-known Chinese media outlet. At the time, Alex Lissitsa, head of the Ukrainian Agrarian Club, described the reports as "groundless and provocative" in comments to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

In this instance, Russian propaganda distorted the facts. While global media did report on a potential deal, it never materialized, as confirmed by Ukrainian officials.

Interestingly, in 2024, this false claim was revived by Ukraine's former Prime Minister and traitor Mykola Azarov, who now resides in Russia. In 2013, Azarov was still in office in Ukraine and would have known there was no such agreement. His actions demonstrate a deliberate attempt to spread disinformation about Ukraine.

Another fabricated claim alleges that 40% of Ukraine's arable land was purchased by three American companies -- Cargill, Dupont, and Monsanto -- and that 170,000 square kilometers, or 30% of the country's territory, is owned by foreigners. Propagandists cited a story from the Australian National Review.

However, Ukrainian fact-checkers from VoxCheck debunked this claim in April 2024. The Australian National Review article has since been deleted, and Media Bias/Fact Check, an international fact-checking organization, categorizes the outlet as conspiratorial and prone to spreading false information.

The Australian National Review, in its now-deleted false report, cited an article from the French news outlet Ritimo. However, the Ritimo article contains no information about Cargill, Monsanto, or Dupont purchasing Ukrainian agricultural land. Moreover, Monsanto ceased to exist in 2018 after being acquired by Bayer.

The third "source" used by Russian propagandists is a study by the U.S.-based Oakland Institute. According to the propagandists, this study claims that 28% of Ukraine's land was bought by Ukrainian oligarchs and foreign investors from Saudi Arabia, France, the United States, and Germany. While the study does exist, it is highly manipulative.

In reality, Ukraine has large agricultural holdings with significant land banks, but this land is leased, not sold. Some agricultural companies have investors from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, France, and other countries, but ownership remains predominantly Ukrainian. Foreign investors may hold small or larger stakes, which is standard global practice.

It is also important to note that the Oakland Institute promotes extreme left-wing economic views and opposes the concept of private property, making their perspective highly biased.

As of July 8, 2024, 567,320 hectares of agricultural land had been purchased in Ukraine over three years. According to Ukraine's Deputy Agriculture Minister Denys Bashlyk, the total area of land previously under the moratorium was 27.5 million hectares, meaning that only about 2% of arable land had been bought or sold since the moratorium was lifted.

In Ukraine, it is illegal to sell land to foreigners or companies with foreign capital. Only Ukrainian citizens can change this policy through a national referendum. The only way for foreigners or stateless individuals to acquire agricultural land is through inheritance, and even then, it must be as individuals, not legal entities.

The claim that Ukraine "sold its economic sovereignty" to the investment company BlackRock is a fabrication by Russian propaganda. In November 2022, Ukraine did sign a cooperation agreement with BlackRock, but its purpose was to establish the Ukraine Development Fund (UDF). This fund aims to enhance investment opportunities for private capital to support Ukraine's reconstruction efforts alongside other international institutions.

The narrative about "Ukrainian lands sold to foreigners" is intentionally manipulative. Companies like BlackRock, with foreign capital, also invest in the Russian economy, particularly in agriculture. However, the Russian propaganda machine conveniently avoids raising alarm over such investments within its own borders.

In the Russian Federation, as of 2020, 5% of the total arable land was owned by foreigners, and by 2024, this figure had grown to one million hectares. At least 62 enterprises with foreign capital were operating in Russia by 2020.

Russian media proudly highlight that companies like Sucden and AgroTerra continue to invest in Russian agriculture despite sanctions. AgroTerra, in particular, ranks among the top 20 in terms of land ownership.

Additionally, significant portions of Russian land belong to local oligarchs, some of whom have expanded their land holdings from 25,000 to 116,000 hectares in just the past year. Russia also leases its land to other countries. For instance, China's Zoje Resources Investment signed a lease for 115,000 hectares in the Trans-Baikal Territory for 49 years. Beyond China, Russia is transferring land to Central Asian countries.

Ironically, the same Russian propaganda outlets that accuse Ukraine of "selling" its land simultaneously report that Russia will lease one million hectares to Uzbekistan.

Before its invasion of Ukraine, Russia cooperated actively with BlackRock. At the start of the war, BlackRock held assets in Russia worth at least $18 billion, but due to sanctions and global condemnation of Putin's actions, the investment giant withdrew its assets.

Russian propaganda consistently manipulates facts, portraying standard economic practices -- such as investments, private property, and land markets -- as threats to Ukrainian sovereignty to incite distrust within Ukrainian society. Meanwhile, Russia employs these very methods to advance its own economy.

Such disinformation aims to convince Ukrainians that there is no need to fight for their independence because, allegedly, the state has been "sold to the treacherous bourgeoisie" and its citizens "own nothing" -- claims that are patently false.

Previously, Russian propagandists even forged the cover of The Economist to falsely suggest the "beginning" of World War III.

Andriy Olenin