Quarter of Ukraine's territory is contaminated with explosive ordnance

Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, stabilization measures in the regions liberated from the Russian forces begin with demining. However, the longer the occupation lasted, the more explosive objects there were in these areas.

When asked how long it would take to clean up the territory of Ukraine, Klymenko said: "This is a difficult question, because it is impossible to predict while the fighting is ongoing. Especially in the frontline regions.”

"We will clear a settlement, declare it safe, and then there will be another attack. And that's it, we start all over again. So there are a lot of conventions here now. Moreover, we still find shells from the Second World War in the ground," the minister added.

He noted that in two years, State Emergency Service (SES) experts have already found and destroyed more than 780,000 explosive items, but there is enough demining work to do for years. At the same time, Ukraine lacks sappers.

"There are about 2,000 sappers in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This includes the State Emergency Service, the National Police, and the National Guard. We plan to increase their number to 2,800," Klymenko said.

Training of deminers continues: almost 1,000 demining specialists were trained last year.

The SES engages about 400 units of various equipment daily to clean up the area. There are 37 mechanized demining machines in operation. At least 30 more such vehicles and special vehicles are needed to speed up the process of clearing the areas.

Demining in Ukraine

In March 2023, the UNDP said that the area of mined territory in Ukraine was 4.5 times the size of Switzerland.

In August, the Ministry of Economy said that it hoped to clear 80% of the land and return it to use in 10 years.

The same month, Ukraine's first domestically produced demining machine received a certificate of conformity. This development allows for the effective disposal of anti-personnel and detection of anti-tank mines.

On September 22, it became known that Ukraine would launch a market for humanitarian demining services through Prozorro.

In January, sappers inspected over 21,000 hectares of agricultural land for explosives, most of it in the Kherson region.

To accelerate demining in Ukraine, the government introduced a single unified certification procedure for mine action operators at a meeting on February 2.

On February 22, Ukraine unveiled its third domestic demining vehicle.

On February 29, the State Emergency Service announced that 156,000 km² of territory in Ukraine is potentially mined. The most heavily mined areas are the Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson regions.

In early March, it was reported that the government would compensate farmers for 80% of demining costs.

On March 29, media reported that Ukraine, together with the American corporation Palantir, is working on the development of a demining system using artificial intelligence. It is to be presented in the summer.