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Russia’s invasion could cause long-term harm to Ukraine’s prized soil

Physical and chemical damage to farmland could linger for years

a team working to destroy an unexploded missile. Two people stand around a small post in a dug-up portion of field, with a blue vehicle in the distance

A team works to destroy an unexploded missile in a field near Hryhorivka, Ukraine. War damage done to the country’s fertile soil could affect agriculture for years.

DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images

By Rebecca Dzombak

By now, wheat planted late last year waves in fields across Ukraine. Spring crops of sunflowers and barley are turning swaths of dark earth into a fuzz of bright green.