Local resident Lubov, 71, carries goods received during a food aid distribution in the village of Lymany, Mykolaiv region, on Jan. 28, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. WASHINGTON — America's top spy agency says Russia's war in Ukraine has disrupted global food security and triggered not only higher prices but also political instability in some of the world's most vulnerable countries. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the nation's 18 intelligence agencies, warned that countries located in sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Yemen are particularly susceptible to political instability as a result of food insecurity. "The combination of high domestic food prices and historic levels of sovereign debt in many countries, largely caused by spending and recessionary effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, has weakened countries' capacity to respond to heightened food insecurity risks," ODNI wrote in the assessment. The Kremlin has previously denied that its troops in Ukraine targeted civilian infrastructure and engaged in looting.

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Persons: WASHINGTON —, ODNI Organizations: WASHINGTON, National Intelligence, Congress Locations: Lubov, Lymany, Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Russian