The area of mined territories of Ukraine reached 139 thousand square kilometers, which exceeds the size of England (130 thousand square kilometers). Such data is provided by the Institute for International Policy Studies (ISPI), reports The Guardian.
More than 6 million people live in and near risk zones. Agricultural lands of the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia regions were the most affected by mine hazards. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, 359 civilians have been killed, including 18 children, and another thousand people have been injured as a result of mine and ammunition explosions.
The head of the UN demining program in Ukraine, Paul Heslop, reported that almost a quarter of the country’s territory is littered with explosive objects. It is about more than a million mines and other devices. In addition, a significant amount of unexploded ammunition remains on the liberated territories – rockets, grenades, artillery shells. Russian troops continue to lay mines during the retreat. According to experts, the scale of the problem is unprecedented.
Heslop noted that large anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, which contain 5-10 kilograms of explosives each and are triggered when heavy equipment such as cars, trucks or tanks, are a particular threat. Ammunition dropped from drones became an additional challenge, which significantly complicates the work of sappers and increases the risks for the civilian population.
From 2023, Ukraine is considered one of the most mined countries in the world. It recently joined Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in announcing its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, which restricts the use of landmines. In Kyiv, this decision was explained by the need to strengthen defense in the face of Russian aggression, at the same time emphasizing that humanitarian demining remains among the main priorities of state policy.
According to estimates of the Ministry of Environment, it will take about 10 years and about 38 billion dollars to clean up priority areas, in particular nature protection zones. Complete demining can take hundreds of years.
At the same time, the area of potentially dangerous areas decreased by more than 20% compared to the end of 2022 and now amounts to about 137 thousand square kilometers, mostly agricultural land.
The State Emergency Service, the National Police, the Ministry of Defense and non-governmental mine action operators are involved in demining operations. Today, 112 certified operators work in Ukraine, including eight foreign ones. At their disposal are more than 9,000 specialists, 278 units of demining and earthmoving equipment, as well as more than 13,000 metal detectors.
