Ukraine's front-line farms battle Russians and weather

Hindustan Times

5 days ago

'THEY ARE coming more and more often,' the farmer says angrily. Driving out of his yard he had quarrelled with a woman with a clipboard, accompanied by a policeman, checking whether he had any men who could be mobilised for the army. In another part of the farm he turns the car over to a colleague. On the way to a storage area she spots a distant plume of smoke in the fields. 'Get the fire brigade!' she yells into her phone. As she parks by a warehouse, two women shovelling grain spot the police car behind her and shout to a male colleague: 'Hide!'
Ukraine's farmers, especially those near the front lines, are caught between the demands of the armed forces and Russian attacks. But despite the challenges he faces, Dmytro Maksymov, who farms 1,500 hectares in Kherson province, says dealing with them 'is better than occupation'.
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Agriculture is a mainstay of Ukraine's economy. Produce worth $24.5bn made up 59% of Ukraine's exports last year. Its farmers harvested 76m tonnes of grain and oilseeds in 2024. In 2021, the last year before Russia's full-scale invasion (and the resulting loss of territory), the figure was 106m tonnes. This year the weather has been poor. Vitaliy Koval, the minister of agriculture, warns that may cut the harvest by a further 10%. But he thinks higher global commodity prices will mean export income roughly matches last year's.
In regions close to the front the Russians have begun sending drones to set fields alight. According to Dmytro Yunusov, Kherson province's director for agriculture, in the past month Russian drones have burned 1,000 hectares of crops. Mr Koval calls the attacks 'a big threat for us': the Russians aim to decrease the amount Ukraine has to sell while driving up prices on the world market for their own farmers' benefit.
Farm labour is scarce all over the country. Some 200,000 farm workers are fighting on the front, says Mr Koval. 'Today's best tank drivers are yesterday's combine and tractor drivers,' he says. Farms can apply for a military exemption for 50% of their eligible male workforce, but with recruitment falling short the armed forces are on the hunt for more men. The government is training more women for specialised jobs in agriculture.
This year saw unusually heavy frosts in March, anda scorching summer. According to Mr Yunusov, farmers planted 250,000 hectares in the one-third of Kherson under Ukrainian control; crops on more than 80,000 of those hectares have withered. The war has exacerbated the exceptional summer heat:the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in 2023, which fed the region's irrigation channels, made the area much hotter. In 2024 there was enough rain to compensate for the heat, but not this year. Without significant state help for farmers, 10-20% will not sow for the next season, Mr Yunusov estimates. Many are already deeply in debt.
The vast majority of Ukraine's agricultural produce is exported by sea. In recent months Russia has stepped up attacks on ports, forcing ships to wait at sea for security clearance, according to Oleksiy Smolyar, the director of Trident Maritime, a marine-services company in Odessa. This is pushing up insurance premiums and other costs. Labour shortages mean it can take three times as long to load a ship as it did before the full-scale invasion. The consequences of war, bad weather and increased costs add up, says Mr Smolyar: it is 'impact, impact, impact'.
Most of the farmland in Kherson province that was occupied by Russia, then liberated, in 2022 has been demined, says Mr Yunusov. But that process entails more than just removing landmines and unexploded ordnance. The soil compacted by tanks and scarred by bunkers and trenches must also be restored. Mr Maksymov says that up to 40% of his land in Myroliubivka was damaged during the Russian occupation of 2022. Although it has been cleared, it needs to lie fallow until the next planting season. By that time, he hopes, the soil will have recovered.
In nearby Kyselivka, Vitaliy Oleksiienko shows off seed wheat in a warehouse. The walls are sooty from a fire caused by a drone attack. His farm has suffered three attacks since its liberation in 2022. During the occupation Russian soldiers stole 1,500 of his 3,200 pigs; others were stolen by locals. Ninety-six of those that remained burned to death during an attack a year ago. Now he has given up on pigs.
Kherson region's two biggest commercial vineyards have been destroyed, says Oleksiy Sandakov. He has been asked to harvest the grapes in a friend's small non-commercial vineyard, where buildings have been destroyed in attacks. The vineyard 'is gradually degrading,' he says, due to drone attacks and diminished care. This year the Russians are sending more drones than ever. Asked whether he will continue to work there, he says he has an 'inner fire'. It tells him, 'go harvest'.