Agriculture is woven into Ukrainian culture, but daily attacks, a loss of workers and land contamination are tearing the industry apart

In a field outside the eastern Ukraine city of Sumy, Mykola Mondrayev, 55, is moving the wreckage of a Russian drone. A pickup truck stands nearby, mounted with a gun, the only defence against the deadly unmanned aerial devices.

Three days a week, Mondrayev serves with a territorial defence unit. The other days he works his fields.