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Photos: Bombs disrupt Ukraine’s critical farming industry

Russia’s invasion in late February has dealt a heavy blow, damaging farmland, crops, livestock and machinery.

Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
Farm workers take a pause for lunch during the sunflower harvesting on a field in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, September 9, 2022. Ukrainian farms near the front lines are facing constant shelling that is damaging fields, equipment and buildings and making it difficult to plant and harvest crops. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
Published On 23 Sep 202223 Sep 2022
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Novomykolaivka, Ukraine – An unexploded rocket sticks out of a field, and another is embedded in the ground of the farm compound. Workers found a cluster bomb while clearing weeds, and there is a gaping hole in the roof of the shrapnel-scarred livestock barn.

All work has halted on this large eastern Ukrainian farm, where fields and buildings have been hit so many times by mortars, rockets, missiles and cluster bombs that its workers are unable to sow the crater-dotted land or harvest crops like wheat.

Returning to planting and harvesting “will be difficult, very difficult”, said Viktor Lubinets, who handles crop production at the Veres farm. Even if the fighting ends, the fields must first be cleared of unexploded ordnance and shrapnel.

Agriculture is a critical part of Ukraine’s economy, accounting for about 20 percent of gross national product and 40 percent of export revenue before the war, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The country is often described as the breadbasket of Europe and millions rely on its affordable supplies of grain and sunflower oil in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia where many already face hunger.

But Russia’s invasion in late February has dealt a heavy blow, damaging farmland, crops, livestock, machinery and storage facilities, as well as severely hampering transport and exports.

The FAO estimated in July that preliminary damage to the industry ranges from $4.3bn to $6.4bn — 15 percent to 22 percent of the total value of Ukraine’s pre-war agriculture sector, estimated at $29bn.

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The Veres farm is a stark example. Its 5,700 hectares (14,085 acres) of land would usually grow wheat, barley, corn and sunflowers, and it had 1,500 cattle.

But its location made it particularly vulnerable in what has been largely an artillery war. It lies in an almost direct line between the strategic city of Izyum, seized by Russian forces in early April and retaken by Ukraine in September, and Kramatorsk, the largest city in the eastern Donetsk region still in Ukrainian hands.

The farm complex has been hit 15 to 20 times, Lubinets says, and he has lost count of how many times the fields have been struck. The grain storage has been shelled, the electricity generation facility was destroyed, and multiple rockets rained down on the cattle barn — empty since the livestock was sold off as the war started. Of a pre-war workforce of 100 employees, most were evacuated and only about 20 remain.

Workers managed to plant wheat, but they did not have time to harvest it. The crops burned down during a bombing on July 2.

Some farms in the area have been luckier. Nearly 10km (6 miles) to the southwest of Novomykolaivka, a combine harvester moves methodically up and down a field, slicing dried sunflowers from their stalks and pouring their black seeds into waiting trucks.

The war forms a jarring backdrop. The machine is scarred by shrapnel from an exploding rocket, and a nearby field is mined. Helicopters skim over the sunflowers and corn, and fighter jets streak low above the rolling plains.

Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
Viktor Lubinets, an agronomist at the Veres farm, looks at smoke rising in the air following an explosion in Novomykolaivka, eastern Ukraine, September 10, 2022. 'I've got used to it. It was frightening during the first couple of days, but now — a person can get used to anything,' the 55-year-old said, the smoke dissipating behind him. 'And we have to work. If we give all this up, we will abandon, other farmers will abandon. What will happen then?' [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
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Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
A worker drives a tractor during the sunflowers harvesting on a field in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, September 9, 2022. Ukrainian farms near the front lines are facing constant shelling which is damaging fields, equipment and buildings and making it difficult to plant and harvest crops. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
An employee walks past part of a rocket that sits wedged in the ground in an area at the Veres farm in Novomykolaivka, September 10, 2022. Work has halted on this large eastern Ukrainian farm, where fields and compound have been hit so many times by mortars, rockets, missiles and cluster bombs that its workers are unable to sow the crater-scarred land or harvest any crops. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
An employee enters a shelter in an area at the Veres farm in Novomykolaivka, eastern Ukraine, September 10, 2022. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
Seeds are poured on a truck during the sunflowers harvesting on a field in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, September 9, 2022. Agriculture is a critical part of Ukraine's economy, accounting for about 20 percent of its gross national product and 40 percent of its export revenues before the war, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. The country is a key agricultural exporter and is often described as the breadbasket of Europe. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
Viktor Lubinets stands next to a part of a rocket found at the Veres farm, Novomykolaivka, eastern Ukraine, September 10, 2022. Returning to sowing and harvesting 'will be difficult, very difficult', said Lubinets, an agronomist at the Veres farm. Even if the fighting ends, the fields must be cleared of unexploded ordnance and shrapnel before they can be worked. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
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Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
An employee walks near a crater created by an explosion on a field at the Veres farm in Novomykolaivka, September 10, 2022. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
A part of a rocket sits wedged in the ground in an area at the Veres farm in Novomykolaivka, eastern Ukraine, September 10, 2022. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]
Russia Ukraine War Frontline Farming
A driver uses a tarp to cover the back of his truck loaded with seeds during sunflower harvesting on a field in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, September 9, 2022. Agriculture is a critical part of Ukraine's economy, accounting for about 20 percent of its gross national product and 40 percent of its export revenues before the war, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. The country is a key agricultural exporter and is often described as the breadbasket of Europe. [Leo Correa/AP Photo]


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