After Russian Retreat, Ukraine’s Farmers Discover Fields Full of Mines

Wall Street Journal ^ | April 28, 2022 | Alistair MacDonald

[Wuli]

Russian forces have riddled Ukrainian fields with mines and destroyed equipment in areas they once occupied, in what returning farmers and the Kyiv government allege is a campaign by Moscow to hobble the country’s agricultural industry.

Russia’s invasion already has decimated shipments of corn, wheat and sunflower oil from what was until recently one of the world’s biggest food exporters. Prices have soared, adding to global food-price inflation and heaping misery on developing countries that had been dependent on imports from the region.

The extent of damage to some farms, together with port disruption and a shortage of fertilizer, demonstrates how the war’s impact on Ukraine’s agriculture industry could extend well into next year.

When Russian troops pulled out of areas around Kyiv, they left shattered buildings and were accused of war crimes against the local population. Farmers in northern Ukraine say they have returned to fields littered with mines, unexploded ordnance and large craters. Several workers have been killed, and the work has been placed on hold in some areas, the farmers add.

Alex Lissitsa, chief executive of IMC, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural companies, said his workers should now be planting sunflowers and corn on 30,000 hectares of land (a hectare is 2.47 acres) north of Chernihiv but can’t because of unexploded shells and mines.

“It looks like this year or even the year after we will not be able to do anything here,” Mr. Lissitsa said of parts of the land. The company also lost a grain storage facility, a chemicals laboratory and other buildings and equipment to Russian shelling.

Mr. Lissitsa said he frequently hears of deaths related to mines, adding that a worker on a neighboring farm was recently killed when his tractor ran over one.

[Wuli]

“The ONLY reason this operation is lasting any longer than that is that Russians are taking extreme care not to harm civilians or civilian ifrastructure.”

!!! Non-stop ROFWL!!!!!!!