UKRAINE, MOKRA ROKYTNA, May 15 — On 28 April, Russians attacked the private dairy farm “Agroservice” in Mokra Rokytna, a village in Kharkiv Oblast, for the second time. The losses amounted to about 80 million hryvnias ($1,9 million), said Olena Zhupinas, Deputy CEO of the Association of Milk Producers to Gwara Media.

Before the full-scale invasion, the Kharkiv region was Ukraine’s third-largest milk producer. About 33,000 cows were on the region’s farms, but in January 2025, about 17,500 cows remained, meaning Russia killed about half of them.

“The losses (of “Agroservice” — ed.) amounted to about 2 million hryvnias ($48,191) after the first attack when Russians launched five drones at the farm, and it was still possible to renew the work. After the second attack with 10 Shahed drones, of course, a farm cannot rebuild so quickly,” said Zhupinas.

Artem Nemashkalo, the owner of “Agroservice,” said to Gwara Media that Russia killed about 170 cows, and their amount increases every day.

“We can’t accurately count the losses of the cows because (we keep losing them). There are cows with huge traumas after the attack, and we try to help them, but they die anyway,” said Nemashkalo.

Damaged cowshed after Russian attack on April 28
Damaged cowshed after Russian attack on April 28 / Photo: Serhii Prokopenko, Gwara Media

Nemashkalo has been managing “Agroservice” for 7 years, but the work has become more complicated since the Russian full-scale invasion. Nearly 50 people are still working on the farm, but the company has abandoned pre-war plans to produce other products despite milk.

He also said that they are still repairing the damage brought by the Russian attack because it damaged a huge area of the farm. The key need for them is to renew the number of cows they had before the attack—around 300 animals. They also, Nemashkalo adds, urgently need equipment. 

“We received an electric generator, but the losses are huge, so we continue to look for opportunities to rebuild. I applied to “eVidnovlennia.” We are working now, but it’s not like before the war,” said Nemashkalo. (“eVidnovlennia” is a state aid program for the restoration of damaged housing triggers.)

Zhupinas said there is no useful state algorithm for saving farms after Russian attacks.

“There is support for small farmers who keep from five to 100 cows with the money from European grants. Unfortunately, big dairy farms must do everything alone in situations like this one,” said Zhupinas.

She stressed that the Association of Milk Producers gives technical and veterinary consultations for big farms. 

Both Zhupinas and Nemashkalo are confident that Russia attacked Ukrainian farms intentionally to “undermine” the food security of Ukraine and the whole world because Ukraine is a major exporter of agricultural products.

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