Soils of war: The toxic legacy for Ukraine's breadbasket
An elderly woman pushes her bicycle loaded with hay and brushwood near village of Kolisnykivka in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on February 23, 2023. High concentrations of toxins such as mercury and arsenic from munitions and fuel are polluting the ground in Kharkiv region. PHOTO | ANATOLII STEPANOV | AFP
When Ukraine recaptured Kherson in November, Andrii Povod returned to find his grain farm in ruins. Two tractors were missing, most of the wheat was gone and all 11 buildings used to store crops and machinery had been bombed and burned.
