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Russia-Ukraine War

'We will sow' — Odesa farmers defiant in face of relentless Russian assaults
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'We will sow' — Odesa farmers defiant in face of relentless Russian assaults

by Polina Moroziuk

ODESA OBLAST — Volodymyr Varbanets sinks his hands into a mound of wheat, letting the golden kernels slip between his fingers. This year brought an unusually good harvest, the best since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, he says. Behind him, hundreds of metric tons of wheat, barley, lentils, and peas fill the farm's warehouses. "But we cannot sell it," he sighs. For more than 20 years, Varbanets has worked this land, sowing and harvesting crops across 206 hectares. At 76, he stil

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Russian citizens drafted during the partial mobilization in Moscow, Russia, on Oct. 10, 2022.

About War

The Kyiv Independent's coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, after eight years of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and fighting in Donbas. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties and displaced millions of Ukrainians. NATO and Western allies have provided military aid to Ukraine while the conflict continues across fronts in Ukraine’s south and east.

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