The farmers' association defended the fined farmer from the Rostov region.
The "People's Farmer" Association sent a request to the prosecutor's office of the Rostov region demanding the cancellation of a fine imposed on a farmer due to a fire in his field caused by the fall of a Ukrainian drone.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in the Rostov region, a 64-year-old farmer was fined 60,000 rubles for the untimely removal of crop residues. The reason for the administrative fine was a fire in his field, which occurred after the fall of a downed Ukrainian drone.
The incident occurred during the height of the harvest campaign. The farmer had cut wheat in one of his fields and, unable to clear the stubble in time, was forced to urgently move to another field to save the harvest there. Soon, a downed drone fell on the unharvested area, leading to the ignition of dry grass. The material damage from the fire itself was minimal. However, a few days later, the man was summoned to the investigator. He was charged with violating fire safety rules in agriculture, namely, the untimely removal of crop residues. The chief state inspector for fire supervision of the Tarasovsky district issued a fine of 60,000 rubles to the farmer.
Crop residues and stubble are not classified as agricultural waste. They are not listed in the order of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources "On the Approval of the Federal Classification Catalog of Waste", therefore the requirement for removal according to fire safety rules is unlawful, the "People's Farmer" Association reported on September 3 in their Telegram channel.
According to the association, the official equated stubble to garbage and applied an incorrect norm. As a result, the farmer was punished for the consequences of the drone's fall - a legally questionable decision that creates social tension among farmers in border areas.
The "People's Farmer" demanded the cancellation of the decision to hold the farmer administratively liable, to assess the legality of the official's actions, and to conduct a service check on the employee's compliance with their position.
"The association sent requests to the regional prosecutor's office, the prosecutor's office of the Tarasovsky district, and the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the region," the message states.
The story has received wide public resonance and reached the federal level. State Duma deputy Ekaterina Stenyakina stated that holding farm owners accountable for such fires is unacceptable. According to her, farmers already take all necessary fire safety measures, including plowing territories to prevent the fire from spreading beyond the fields.
"Farmers cannot be fined if a fire occurs in the field due to an enemy drone," Stenyakina wrote in her Telegram channel.
In addition, Stenyakina prepared a request to the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia asking for clear explanations to territorial divisions of the agency regarding the accountability of landowners in such cases. The parliamentarian emphasized that in the current conditions, it is necessary to support small and medium-sized businesses, rather than impose fines on entrepreneurs for the consequences of incidents beyond their control.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the court imposed a fine of 40,000 rubles on a pensioner from the village of Yelany, Nikolai Mukhin, for attempting to independently shoot down a Ukrainian drone flying at night past the Yelansky district. Later, the Volgograd Regional Court ruled to terminate the proceedings in the case and return the gun to the pensioner.