Hryhoriy Tkachenko vows to repair all the damage on his farm.
Even the milk tank is damaged by the Russians.
CHERNIHIV, Ukraine – A Ukraine dairy farmer says “Russian orks” who killed 110 of his cows and calves on his farm near Chernihiv are “inhuman.” But he’s vowed to rebuild his business.
Hryhoriy Tkachenko, 55, is the owner of Naporivske Farm, situated in Lukashivka village about 20 kilometers from Chernihiv and 150 kilometers northeast of Kyiv, Ukraine. Russian soldiers shelled Tkachenko’s farm March 8, killing cows as well as damaging sheds and farm machinery. The next day they came and occupied the farm. Tkachenko and his family had only minutes to escape, following a telephone warning from Ukrainian soldiers who had been defending the local village.
A shell goes through a cattle-shed roof, killing cows.
Russian soldiers shell Naporivske Farm, damaging buildings and killing cows.
It wasn’t until March 30 that Tkachenko could return to his farm and investigate the real damage done after the Russians had been driven out of the area by Ukrainian forces. To his despair, 110 dairy cows and calves had been killed during the shelling and occupation of his farm. Many of them had been shot for fun by the Russians, who then barbecued the meat at a local historic church they later destroyed.
Cows are killed either from the shelling or by being shot by Russian soldiers.
Dead cattle will need to be taken outside the farm to be buried.
From small beginnings with only three cows, Tkachenko built Naporivske Farm with his wife, Valentyna, and their four children. It was a small backyard farm, typical of many in Ukraine, but had been expanded extensively thanks to the family's hard work.
In 2002 the family started growing crops on 6 hectares of owned land – about 15 U.S. acres – having just $300 of capital and no machinery. They carried out most of the work manually, including fertilization and spraying the crops.
The business was registered in 2005; before Russians occupied the farm it had grown to more than 1,500 hectares of land – about 3,707 U.S. acres – with a productive dairy herd of 326 cows.
Tkachenko said, “We started our farm with Simmental cows but we’ve been undergoing so-called ‘Holsteinisation’ with the help of high-quality Canadian Holstein semen.
“Thanks to improvements in genetics, reproduction technology, feeding, milking and housing, and with the support of the Association of Milk Producers in Ukraine, our farm was confidently increasing its productivity levels.
“In 2021 we were achieving over 6,000 kilograms of milk per cow per year (about 13,227 pounds) and were planning to reach at least 7,000 kilograms by the end of 2022 (about 14,433 pounds). We were sending about 3 tonnes of milk per day at 30 euro cents per kilogram to our local processor Kulykivske Milk, which is situated 20 kilometers from us in Kulykivka town.”
Tkachenko employed 30 full-time staff and extra seasonal workers on the farm to help with the cows and the crops, which included potatoes and strawberries. He had invested heavily on the farm. In 2016 he switched from a tie-stall housing system for the cows to free-stall, and designed and installed a new DeLaval milking parlor. This past autumn he completed a new grain-drying complex, most of which has now been destroyed.
Not much is left of the new grain-drying facility on the farm.
During the initial stages of the war Tkachenko and his team continued milking the cows, until the farm was occupied, although the processing plant could not collect the milk due to intense shelling in the area.
Tkachenko said, “We distributed milk to the local villages, and some milk was distributed by the Red Cross to orphanages and hospitals in Chernihiv.
“At 6.30 p.m. on March 8, the Russians fired over 30 shells at our dairy farm from a rocket launcher. This aimed shelling destroyed our farm warehouses, damaged roofs, (and) destroyed the milking block, parlor and the milk-cooling tank. They killed many cows and burnt the machinery.
“At the time our workers were at the farm and they miraculously survived. Since then we could not operate. The next morning at 9 a.m. the (occupiers) entered our village, and then invaded the farm.
“With only minutes to spare I was warned by Ukrainian soldiers that were defending our village, who called me and only managed to say ‘run!’ before the connection was broken.
“We rushed to the car and managed to escape. Otherwise the Russians would definitely have killed us.
“Our village was under occupation for almost a month, until March 30. During that time there were about 500 Russian soldiers in our village and almost 2,000 in the neighboring village of Ivanivka.
“I can’t call Russian soldiers humans. They are creatures for me, ‘orks,’ as they terrorized and beat people in the village. They regularly took some men out of hidings, fired shots over their heads and then repeated their entertainment.
“Around 50 houses of the 150 in the village have been destroyed and 12 of our villagers were killed by the Russians.”
He said the Russians continue to bomb and mine farms because they know Ukraine is the breadbasket of Europe and they want to destroy the food chain.
Most of the machinery on Hryhoriy Tkachenko's farm is destroyed by missiles.
A bomb protrudes through the milking-parlor roof.
“On my farm the Russians killed cows that survived the shelling,” he said. “Some were shot for fun because they were mooing too loudly with hunger. They even killed some to eat on the barbecue. In total we lost 110 cows and calves.
“In all the regions of hostilities the Russians bomb farms and machinery. These are civilian, not military objects. There is no doubt they do this on purpose. They know well that Ukraine is an agrarian country, where the share of agriculture in (the gross domestic product) is up to 15 percent. That is why they are deliberately destroying the bases of our food security and economics.”
Tkachenko and his staff are starting to rebuild the farm; since April 20 they’ve been trying to plant crops in the fields. But his land is full of mines left by the Russians and demining takes a long time.
Just some of the shell casings collected on the farm are in a pile.
He said, “We still hope to sow some crops, though our machinery is mostly all destroyed. Shrapnel and direct fire damaged our fuel tanks, so we lack diesel. Luckily almost all our staff survived, and we have to take care of them and give them jobs.
“We couldn’t remove the dead animals from the farm until April 10, when a plot in the outskirts of the village was demined and we received the permission of our local administration and veterinary service to bury the corpses there.
“Currently we are repairing the farm buildings, and the DeLaval service team is helping us repair the milking parlor. We have gathered the cows that ran away from the farm during shelling and hope to restart milking some cows in three weeks’ time.”
Hryhoriy Yksvhrnko is finally able to return to his farm to survey the damage.
Because there are no formal compensation systems to rebuild farms in Ukraine just yet, Tkachenko is relying on outside help to start the farm running again.
He said, “We received a StarLink system from our colleague Kees Huizinga of Kischenzi Farm, a member of Association of Milk Producers and Ukrainian Agri Council.
“Thanks to that, we set (an) internet connection in the building that substitutes as our farm office, though there is still no cell connection and problems with electricity. Our neighbor farms also helped us with fuel for the diesel generator.
“We have a long way before us to restore, but we believe in the victory of Ukraine, and we are not going to quit our agrarian business or stop the farm."
Dairy cows and calves are left to wander among the damaged buildings for weeks.
The Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions were in the top-three dairy regions of Ukraine in 2022; together they supplied 30 percent of total industrial milk to processing.
The Association of Milk Producers together with the Pig Producers of Ukraine and Ukrainian Agri Council, under approval and support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the State Service of Ukraine, have started a special project – “Marshall Plan for Livestock of Ukraine.” Together they are gathering and supplying farms with humanitarian veterinarian medicine and instruments, feed ingredients and milking hygiene aids needed for the next few months.
This is an original article written for Agri-View, a Lee Enterprises agricultural publication based in Madison, Wisconsin. Visit AgriView.com for more information.
With 20 years experience behind him, award-winning agricultural journalist Chris McCullough is always on the hunt for his next story. He grew up on the family dairy farm in the heart of Northern Ireland and is based on the country’s east coast. He travels around the world to bring readers international news. He has many friends and colleagues in Ukraine.
The National Farmers Union and Farmers Union Enterprises – owned by the state Farmers Union organizations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana – are donating $125,000 to help with the humanitarian and agricultural crisis in Ukraine.
The contribution is directed through the World Food Program USA, the non-profit arm of the United Nations-affiliated World Food Program. The organization is currently on the ground in Ukraine providing critical food assistance to those impacted by the war.
“The war in Ukraine is devastating hundreds of thousands of families, driving them from their homes and into hunger,” said Rob Larew, National Farmers Union president. “While the scope of the humanitarian crisis is immense, American family farmers and ranchers want to help in the best way we know how – to provide food and humanitarian aid to those around the world who need it.
“As the full effects of the invasion of Ukraine are felt throughout the global food system, reserves and food programs will be stretched thin. From the beginning (the National Farmers Union) has been committed to the cooperative principles, one of which is ‘concern for community.’ For our organization, that concern extends around the world and to our fellow farmers in a major agricultural country, Ukraine.
“Farmers Union members stand against the violence, hunger and threats to democracy that the people of Ukraine face, and this contribution – and those of our friends and neighbors – will help confront this crisis.”
Visit secure.wfpusa.org/nfu to contribute.
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Hryhoriy Tkachenko vows to repair all the damage on his farm.
A shell goes through a cattle-shed roof, killing cows.
Russian soldiers shell Naporivske Farm, damaging buildings and killing cows.
Just some of the shell casings collected on the farm are in a pile.
Cows are killed either from the shelling or by being shot by Russian soldiers.
Dead cattle will need to be taken outside the farm to be buried.
Most of the machinery on Hryhoriy Tkachenko's farm is destroyed by missiles.
A bomb protrudes through the milking-parlor roof.
Even the milk tank is damaged by the Russians.
Dairy cows and calves are left to wander among the damaged buildings for weeks.
Hryhoriy Yksvhrnko is finally able to return to his farm to survey the damage.
Not much is left of the new grain-drying facility on the farm.
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