Ukrainian agricultural company Kernel halts oilseed extraction plants after Russian attacks

Ukrainian agricultural company ​Kernel Holding said on ​Thursday it had ‌suspended operations ​at all its oilseed extraction plants following a series of Russian ‌attacks on its facilities. "Over the past few days, Russian drones have been targeting the production sites of processing ‌enterprises in Ukraine, including Kernel's assets," the company said ‌in a statement.

"As a result of the hits, production buildings, equipment, and storage tanks were damaged." Kernel said oil extraction ⁠production ​carried fire ⁠risks and the company had decided in the interests of its ⁠workers to shut down its plants.

The statement said all safety ​protocols for the shutdown had been observed and ⁠all employees were safe. Purchases of seed had also been halted. It ⁠said ​that despite the shutdown, the company remained financially stable and was still shipping existing stock ⁠from warehouses.

Kernel said in July that it had suspended operations ⁠at ⁠its port infrastructure in Chornomorsk after it was damaged by Russian missile and drone ‌attacks.