Area of Ukraine contaminated with explosives may be as large as UK

The New York Times published an extensive report from the liberated territories of the Kherson region, including interviews with local farmers.

The HALO Trust, a global demining organization, estimates that mines and explosives could contaminate an area of Ukraine the size of the UK. In no region is the problem more acute than in the Kherson region, where Russian troops left explosives almost everywhere after Ukrainian forces pushed them back in the fall.

Oleksandr Hordienko, head of the Kherson Farmers' Association, said that some farmers were cautious about surveying their land: he alone, with a metal detector and a larger device on his tractor, found about 1,500 mines.

“The Russians mined everything, from towns and electrical lines to children’s toys, doghouses and beehives,” said Oleksandr Dvoretskyi, the head of demining in the region for Ukraine’s state emergency service. “The goal was to prevent us from bringing back a stable life for people.”

According to Oleksandr Dvoretskyi, since October, his sappers have destroyed over 16,000 mines and ammunition, including cluster munitions. He noted that this is only a small part of the total number.

Many Ukrainian farmers are convinced that Russian troops are targeting their fields and equipment to starve Ukrainians and destroy one of the country's most important economic engines.