‘My house, the barns, I lost everything’: the Ukrainian farmers devastated by war

Ivan Mishchenko in the ruins of his farmhouse. Like other farmers in Ukraine, his wheat cannot be harvested due to a shortage of fuel and after his harvester was destroyed by shelling. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

There was a gruelling artillery duel between Ukrainian and Russian troops, positioned just four kilometres apart. Right in the middle, between the two frontlines, stood Ivan Mishchenko’s farmhouse, with his dozens of cows and 100 hectares (247 acres) of wheat fields, transformed into a bloody battleground for five consecutive days in early March.

“Two kilometres on the right were the Russian troops, two kilometres on the left were our troops,” said Mishchenko, 66, whose farm lies in the countryside around Pochepyn, a small village north of Kyiv.