Farmers turned soldiers, fields full of mines and a rural exodus: how Russia is punishing Ukraine’s countryside

Mykola Mondrayev moves a Gerbera decoy drone shot down by his unit in Sumy. Photograph: Peter Beaumont/The Guardian

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.