A drone strike kills a prominent Ukrainian farmer leader. His story is simply incredible

Last Friday, Oleksandr Hordienko, the leader of the farmers' union in the Kherson region of Ukraine, was killed. The 58-year-old man was killed when a Russian drone hit a car with Oleksandr in it.

O. Hordienko had owned a farm in Beryslav district of Kherson region since 1998. He was forced to leave after the Russian invasion, but returned after the liberation of the region in autumn 2022.

As many as 4 000 mines have been found on the 1 000 hectares of land owned by Mr Hordienka. During the occupation, all his agricultural equipment was destroyed. The Kachovka dam was blown up and the irrigation system of Oleksandr's fields was damaged.

Despite these losses, the farmer managed to rebuild the farm, both by himself and with the help of his supporters.

Due to the constant threat of Russian drones, the farmer used a drone jammer. He even managed to shoot down several drones. However, the farmer was recently killed after a drone attack.

According to estimates, eight out of ten farmers in Kherson region will go out of business by 2022. There is no precise information on how many farmers have died in Ukraine.

By the end of 2023, war losses to Ukrainian agriculture amounted to around €80 billion. The losses to Ukraine's agricultural sector amounted to USD 80 billion, including USD 69.8 billion in crop losses, price falls and cost increases. Material losses related to machinery, vehicles, seeds and livestock amounted to approximately USD 10.3 billion. USD.