A selection of rare pears grown in Ukraine
Sergey knows the risks associated with his underground activities in Ukraine.
< p>He has already lost one relative to gunfire, and his brother narrowly escaped being hit by a Russian drone.
But Sergei, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, is not a soldier.
Going out into the pockmarked fields and battle-torn villages, Sergei is not hunting for Russian positions, but for something very delicate — rare fruit trees, some of which grow only in Ukraine and are now endangered. conflict.
His hobby of collecting and growing trees, and smuggling seeds and cuttings to overseas buyers, took on a new meaning after the invasion. Now he is part of a scattered network of activists and enthusiasts fighting to save species endemic to Ukraine.
Poltava pysanka is a rare variety of pear originally from the Poltava region
“I divide my hobby into two parts. One is just to breed new varieties, and the other is to find old varieties that have long, long been forgotten or are not found anywhere else,” he told The Telegraph.
Sergei said that although he earns «pocket money» by selling smuggled plants to collectors around the world, his main motivation now is to preserve the native species of Ukraine for the next generation.
discover old varieties. In Britain they go to villages, old villages and try to get as many apples as possible and so on,” he said. “There are several similar programs in the United States. Here we can do the same.
Sergey dreams of creating a seed bank to preserve Ukrainian varieties, but such a project will require significant government support.
Sergey told about the discovery of a disappeared pear variety growing in the village.
«My brother and I were driving along on the road, and I noticed a pear — only branches were hanging over the fence,» he said.
«We saw an elderly woman near the house and asked her about this variety, and she said that we could take cuttings for testing . She said that this tree was planted by her great-grandfather, and [I think] this tree must be 80 or 100 years old.”
Sergei's trips to the countryside often reveal the devastating effects of war.
The climate of Ukraine, according to him, makes it an ideal place for growing fruit trees.
“Almost anything can grow here. I'm not talking about bananas — no, no. But apples, pears, any stone fruit, any peaches,” he said.
Now Sergey considers his work as a small act of saving Ukrainian varieties. “When I send them to America or other European countries, I think they will be in the best hands. They will be rescued there. They will find a new place, a new life.”
But Sergei's smuggling operations are illegal, and he said the lack of any official support for his work of cataloging Ukraine's rare fruit trees makes it dangerous — especially during a war.
“A Shahed was shot down near my garden, about a kilometer away,” he said, referring to the Iranian-made kamikaze drones that Russia is using to strike Ukraine. “My brother was in the garden at that time and saw how the drone was intercepted and how it burned down on the ground. It was a big bang.»
Ukrainian farmland became the scene of military conflicts after the Russian invasion
Like many Ukrainians, Sergey said he was used to constant air raid warnings: «Now, you know, we just hear the siren and go about our business.»
Ukraine exports over 150,000 units. tons of apples per season, as well as 55,000 tons of berries, according to the Ukrainian Horticultural Association.
But a full-scale Russian invasion has devastated Ukraine's agricultural sector, many of the most productive fruit-growing regions are now under Russian occupation.
In the run-up to the Ukrainian offensive, the rumble of dueling artillery is a constant soundtrack in the farmland surrounding Mykolaiv these days.
One farmer, who did not give his name for fear of reprisals from the occupying forces, Russian forces said that a recently planted orchard was destroyed during the fighting.
Video provided by The Telegraph shows fruit trees planted in chips by artillery fire. Shell fragments and shrapnel lie on the ground next to broken branches.
Video shared with The Telegraph shows fruit trees being smashed to pieces by artillery fire
“Look at that fucking crater – it must be two meters wide. They blew up my trees!” a farmer can be heard speaking.
In another video, a farmer takes cover as a rocket salvo hits a nearby field.
Combined with the loss of this year's crop, the destruction will leave the farm with a loss of 210 000 euros is a devastating blow in a country where the average monthly wage is around $500.
Despite having only six percent of the territory of Europe, Ukraine is home to 35 percent of its biological diversity.
The war has endangered about 750 plants and fungi, and 10 national parks and eight nature reserves remain under occupation.
The impact of the war
Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, said that the impact of the war on the environment cannot be ignored.
“Missiles and unexploded ordnance have perhaps the biggest impact on all ecosystems. Rockets are dangerous for the environment: their fuel poisons soil and water, causing chemical pollution of the environment,” he told The Telegraph.
“Land mine explosions lead to soil contamination with heavy metals such as lead, strontium, titanium and others. This makes the soil dangerous, and in some cases unsuitable for further agricultural use. It will take years to de-mine and rebuild these areas,” said Mr Strelets.
The Ukrainian government is estimating 2,369 incidents of environmental damage worth £42bn, Mr Strelets said. they seek to win back from the Russian Federation in international courts.
But, even after any possible end to the war, the impact on both Ukrainian territories and those who try to live off it will last for many more years.< /p>
“I pray to God every day that we win this war as soon as possible,” Sergey said.
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