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Dairy farm in Ukraine’s Donbas region struggles to survive

Ihor Kriuchenko, senior livestock technician, opens a gate to a mostly empty stall at KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. One of the last working dairy farms in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region is doing everything it can to stay afloat amid Russia's devastating war where not even the cows are safe. "If there will be further war escalation in our region, we'll be obliged to evacuate, sell our cows and close the farm," said Kriuchenko. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Nataliia Onatska prepares cows for milking at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. She's spent her entire life on a farm, calling her job "the point of my life," Onatska said. "I wish everything was like it was before and everyone had kept their jobs. It's scary to live now, I'm just living from day to day." (AP Photo/David Goldman) A worker carries buckets of water through the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Rising expenses due to supply chain and logistics disruptions have required large cutbacks in staff and a mass sell-off of livestock, while shellings in the area pose dangers to workers and animals alike. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Nataliia Onatska drains leftover milk from the udder of a cow at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. The farm is producing only two tons of milk per day now, compared to 11 tons before the war, and it's slaughtered and sold all of the pigs and rabbits that it once raised. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Halyna Borysenko secures cows in their stalls for milking at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. One of the last working dairy farms in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region is doing everything it can to stay afloat amid Russia's devastating war where not even the cows are safe. "The animals are acting differently, they're scared just like we are," she said "They just can't say it out loud." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Oleksandr Piatachenko pauses for a moment from sweeping hay at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. "If there were no farming, there would be no work. There isn't any public transport or buses around. You just can't go and find a new job even if you want to," said Piatachenko. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Halyna Borysenko, right, and Nataliia Onatska walk into the pumping room to prepare cows for milking at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. The farm is producing only two tons of milk per day now, compared to 11 tons before the war, and it's slaughtered and sold all of the pigs and rabbits that it once raised. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Tape residue is all that remains where an employee's name once labeled their locker at KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Only around one-third of the farm's previous staff of 63 employees remains, and revenues have dropped six-fold since Russian forces opened their offensive to seize the Donbas, an industrial region made up of the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk provinces. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Ihor Kriuchenko, senior livestock technician, stands in the old conference room which now sits empty at KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. "It was very hard and sad to let all our staff go. Our team was brought together from nothing and there was great teamwork, everything was good," he said. "It was a shock for me to say goodbye to them." (AP Photo/David Goldman) A worker arrives to start a shift at KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Only around one-third of the farm's previous staff of 63 employees remains, and revenues have dropped six-fold since Russian forces opened their offensive to seize the Donbas, an industrial region made up of the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk provinces. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Ihor Kriuchenko, senior livestock technician, stands next to a few of the cows that remain at KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Kriuchenko said the most difficult part has been saying goodbye to old colleagues who had worked at the farm for years and invested so much in its success. Amid the cutbacks, he said, he'd even had to fire his wife. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Ihor Kriuchenko, senior livestock technician, stands next to a few of the cows that remain at KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Only around 200 head of cattle remain on the farm of the nearly 1,300 there before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Rising expenses due to supply chain and logistics disruptions have required large cutbacks in staff and a mass sell-off of livestock. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Halyna Borysenko waits to milk cows at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. One of the last working dairy farms in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region is doing everything it can to stay afloat amid Russia's devastating war where not even the cows are safe. "The animals are acting differently, they're scared just like we are," she said "They just can't say it out loud." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Oleksandr Piatachenko sweeps hay at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. With many jobs lost as businesses shuttered, the region has become little more than a theater of war where only around a quarter of a million inhabitants have resisted the government's pleas to evacuate. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A worker arrives for a shift at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Only around one-third of the farm's previous staff of 63 employees remains, and revenues have dropped six-fold since Russian forces opened their offensive to seize the Donbas, an industrial region made up of the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk provinces. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Halyna Borysenko carries vacuum pumps to begin milking cows at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. The farm is producing only two tons of milk per day now, compared to 11 tons before the war, and it's slaughtered and sold all of the pigs and rabbits that it once raised. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Halyna Borysenko, left, and Oleksandr Piatachenko push cows into their stalls to be milked at the KramAgroSvit dairy farm in Dmytrivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Business took a hit when several cities where the farm distributed its milk were taken over by Russian forces and are now occupied. (AP Photo/David Goldman)