More than 9 million Russians live in conditions of food shortage or malnutrition, according to the UNICEF report “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021”.

According to the organization, which is part of the UN, in 2018-20, 400 thousand Russian citizens were in the group of "severe food insecurity".

These are people who are on the verge of starvation. This category, according to the methodology, includes those who are forced to limit the amount of food, skip meals or not eat at all due to lack of money or other resources.

Another 8.8 million Russians, according to UNICEF, are in the group of "moderate food insecurity". These are malnourished people. They do not have to completely refuse food, but they are forced to save by reducing food intake and replacing nutritious foods with a low-quality diet.

According to the UNICEF, there are no Russians who do not have access to food at all. At the same time, the organization emphasizes that it relies on official Russian statistics.

In June 2020, the Russian government reported to the UN on the complete elimination of hunger and extreme poverty as part of the sustainable development goals.

The risk of hunger has again sharply worsened, UNICEF states in the report.

The number of undernourished people in the world has reached a 15-year high amid the pandemic, supply disruptions and soaring food prices, which has hit the poorest countries.

At the end of 2020, UNICEF estimates that 768 million people, or almost 10% of the world's population, were undernourished. Over the year, this number increased by 118 million people, or 18%.

Sub-Saharan Africa (264 million people) and South Asia (305 million) remain famine hot spots.

  UN, UNICEF, Russia

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