Famous for towing captured Russian tanks, Ukrainian farmers step up for war effort

Ukraine's farmers now have the fifth-largest army in Europe — or so goes a dark joke on the internet, a reference to all the captured Russian military equipment they've towed off the battlefield.

In a country desperate to keep its spirits up in dire times, the near-daily social media posts featuring Ukrainian farm tractors recovering Russian tanks, trucks and missile launchers that got stuck in their muddy fields have certainly helped.

But now, Ukraine's government is asking its agricultural community for more than just morale boosts.

April 1, the unofficial start of the spring planting season, is looming, and the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging farmers and food producers to redouble their efforts to ensure every last seed is sown and every available piece of land is used to its full advantage. 

That's because the Russian invasion has made an enormous part of Ukraine a war zone and off-limits to food production.

"If things stand as they are, it's very likely that we will be able to safely use only 30 to 50 per cent of arable land," said Nazar Bobitski, who works at the Ukrainian Business and Trade office.  

A former Ukrainian diplomat, Bobitski is typically based in Brussels, where he works with European countries to help get Ukrainian farm exports to foreign markets.   

But since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, he has returned to Lviv to try to help the country's farming community chart an extremely difficult course over the months ahead.

Aside from the actual fighting, Bobitski says Russian troops are trying to systematically destroy farms and farm equipment as they push deeper into the country.

"One of the very horrific features of this Russian war is that the Russian troops are deliberately targeting and destroying agricultural machinery in Donetsk Oblast, and also near Chernihiv and Sumy," Bobitski said. "They really pursue the scorched earth policy as far as [Ukraine's] agricultural facilities are concerned."

Aside from the dangers farmers face because of bombings and missile attacks, Ukraine's government claims Russian forces have dropped landmines from the air over a huge swath of agricultural area, rendering it unsafe.

Ukraine is one of the world's most important agricultural exporters. In 2021, 16 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) came from agricultural production — almost 900 billion euros (or $1.4 billion Cdn).

Agriculture accounted for 45 per cent of Ukraine's total exports, with sunflower oil products, corn, wheat and poultry products leading the way, according to figures compiled by Ukraine's Ministry of the Economy.

Ukraine's bounty "really affects the food security of less fortunate, less developed countries around the world," said Bobitski, noting that Egypt and other North African countries, as well as the Middle East, are among the largest importers of Ukrainian farm products.