Ukraine invasion: Seed bank samples destroyed in Russian bomb attack

Part of Ukraine’s national seed bank, a repository of genetic diversity, has been destroyed by a blast in Kharkiv, and the rest of the collection remains at risk

By Michael Le Page

Tens of thousands of seed samples that were part of Ukraine’s national seed collection have been destroyed by a Russian bomb attack on the city of Kharkiv, according to a video posted on YouTube on 14 May. The collection was the 10th largest in the world and supplied seeds to breeders in many countries, including Russia.

“Almost everything turned into ashes,” said Sergey Avramenko at the Plant Production Institute named after V.Ya. Yuriev in the video, which …