russians deliberately destroyed Plant Genetic Resources Bank in Ukraine, spared by Nazis

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As a result of massive shelling by the russian army in Kharkiv, the country’s only and one of the world’s largest Plant Genetic Resources Banks was destroyed, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Serhiy Avramenko said in a statement.

According to the scientist, the bank stored more than 160 thousand varieties and hybrids of agricultural crops from around the world. The scientists stored the seeds in special storage facilities at different temperatures, which would restore the gene pool of plants in the event of large-scale natural disasters. There are only a few such Banks of Plant Genetic Resources in the world, and there was one in Ukraine. The bank, which has a long history, survived even during the German occupation, but did not survive russian aggression.

“I am sad to say that in the days of Hitler’s Germany, when all of Ukraine was under occupation, the Germans did not destroy this collection, but instead tried to preserve something, to hide it, because they knew their descendants would need it. It is a matter of food security. Breeders from all over the world, all countries, including russia, ordered and received samples from this gene pool to create their own varieties adapted to the area, “said the scientist.

The seeds were already being prepared for sowing for varietal renewal, when every few years the existing seeds are sown and new ones are stored, and since March the staff has been sowing the whole collection. “Everything has turned into solid ashes. Tens of thousands of specimens. This is a world collection. Including varieties that are hundreds of years old, which we can not restore. There was hell, aluminum melted. Everything burned down,” said Avramenko.

He stressed that there were no military or defense forces on the territory. “This is a purely scientific institution that was deliberately destroyed, targeted in the very place where the bank of plant genetic resources was stored,” – said the scientist.

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