Shelling of agricultural equipment and the death of workers have become an everyday occurrence for agricultural enterprises in frontline regions. In this regard, the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) appealed to Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Community, Territory, and Infrastructure Development Oleksii Kuleba, and Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture Oleksii Sobolev. Farmers are demanding urgent changes in the definition of territories where hostilities are taking place and in the legal protection of farmers working under fire.

The agricultural community was deeply shocked by the tragic death of Kherson farmer Oleksandr Gordienko on September 5, 2025. His car was hit by a russian drone while he was performing agricultural work. After liberation of the right bank of Kherson region, Gordienko independently cleared hundreds of hectares of fields, removed thousands of mines, and installed electronic warfare equipment on machinery. The farmer single-handedly ensured the restoration of agricultural production in the Kherson region.

The UAC emphasizes that Gordienko's case is not the only one. Farmers are forced to continue working even in dangerous conditions because they are obliged to pay rent for land that has effectively become a hostility zone and fulfill their tax obligations.

“Many areas where it is already impossible to work and where civilian populations are sometimes evacuated are not included in the List of Areas Where Hostilities Are Taking Place, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1364. The cessation of cultivation of dangerous land plots does not exempt enterprises from paying taxes or fulfilling contractual obligations. This is precisely the situation in which Oleksandr Gordienko found himself — and this ultimately led to his death," the appeal states.

The UAC calls on the government to:

1. change the procedure for forming the list of territories where active hostilities are taking place — Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 1364. Although the Resolution allows for the detailing of territories down to individual settlements or parts of communities, local authorities often deliberately fail to provide the necessary data for fear of losing revenue to local budgets.
2. allow farmers to suspend lease agreements without imposing penalties or paying rent for the period of suspension if the land plots are located in areas subject to shelling and where agricultural work is temporarily dangerous.

"No harvest is worth a human life. If the state does not recognize the new nature of the war and does not introduce appropriate legal solutions, it effectively leaves farmers alone with the war — without rules, without protection, without support. We call on the government to take decisive action — not after another death, but before it happens," the UAC emphasizes.