Breaking

15 Jun 2022

Ukrainian Farmers Face Russian Brunt Of Bombings, Bullet Blocks!


Nadiia Ivanova should be reaping her harvest soon. But so far on his farm in southern Ukraine, he has managed to collect only bombs.
"We planted too late because we needed to clear everything in time," the 42-year-old told AFP, standing in the middle of a field wearing a zebra's coat.

Russian troops stormed his 9,900-hectare farm near the city of Mykolaiv as they tried to march north in March.

They only pass, and the front is back about 12 miles (12 miles).
Although the soldiers took the tools and left a strange hole, it seems that the only victims were a pair of peacocks killed in battle.

But endless damage was done.

As the Ukrainian grain ban raises fears of a global food crisis, obstacles are mounting for Ivanova, who employs 76 people.

During peacetime, the farm's production - more than 12,000 tons a year - would have been directed to the domestic market and exported to Europe, Africa and China.

Today, its warehouses stock 2,000 tons of grain last season. No one is taking it.

Trains were destroyed by Russian troops, any sailing vessel faced the threat of sinking, and Mykolaiv port was targeted with arrows.

Some options did not arrive fast enough. As a result, the price of grain per tonne has dropped to $ 100 from more than three times that of war.

Damage to the farm

Back on the farm, the grain washing machine will not start. It is not easy to get help from banks and insurance companies when the fighting is fierce.

And few mechanical engineers want to work under the threat of bombs, which could easily fall off.

Agricultural equipment is still full of shrapnel.

With his hands dipped in the gut of a glamorous 300,000-euro ($ 315,000), Serhii Chernyshov, 47, is worried. The machine has never been used and is already inactive.

"I will need another week to see if I can work again," he said.

A supportive family

On top of this, the cost of fertilizers and pesticides is rising. The oil content, when in stock, is three times as much.

The drought is expected to cause further damage this year, with the wheat crop still standing.

But Ivanova continues at all costs. Failure to bring in the crop poses a risk of fire - a recurring danger.

He opened the farm in 2003 with his brother and parents in the former "kolkhoz", a combined farm that used to supply the Soviet Union.

Now, he is making changes to address the crisis caused by the Russian invasion.

"We have replaced sunflower and sorghum with sunflowers, which comes later," he said.

Sitting on a red tractor, one of the few runners, Oleksandr Khomenko cultivates a plot ready for planting.

"Fear not or do not be afraid, we must go (to work): I have a family to support," said the 38-year-old, with arrows ringing in the distance.

Most of Ivanova's workers continue to work on the farm and earn a living.

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