Fields with Crops Burn in Kherson Region as Burned Area Already Exceeds Last Year’s Total

This was reported by Dmytro Yunusov, Director of the Department of Agricultural Development and Irrigation of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, in a comment to Suspilne.

«According to our operational data, more than 5,000 hectares of land in the Kherson region have already burned due to shelling. Last year, approximately 5,000 hectares burned during the entire season,» he said.

According to Viktor Hordiienko, Head of the Association of Farmers of the Kherson Region and manager of one of the local farms, russian forces are deliberately targeting grain fields on the right bank of the Kherson region.

«We, farmers, extinguish 99% of these fires ourselves, both locally and on a large scale. We use fire extinguishers and tractors, plough firebreaks to stop the fire from reaching villages. But every day russian drones set new fires from different directions. While you are putting out one fire, another one has already started elsewhere. It is simply impossible to extinguish everything,» Hordiienko said.

He added that the strike range of russian drones continues to increase and now reaches 40–50 km from the frontline.Russian forces also attack agricultural machinery operating in the fields or parked in storage facilities, while workers continue to suffer injuries.

«Over the past two to three weeks, the russians have destroyed around seven tractors and two combines. Two weeks ago, drones struck our farm base and injured my security guard, who is currently in hospital,» Hordiienko said.

Farmers are advised to document all losses together with the military administration in order to qualify for future compensation, as the government plans to expand state support for frontline territories.