Ukrainian sappers clear over 200,000 hectares of fertile land since beginning of 2024

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

He recalled that the state compensates farmers for 100% of the costs of humanitarian demining. The state budget provides UAH 3 billion for this purpose.

"Since the beginning of the year, sappers have surveyed more than 200,000 hectares of fertile land, cleared it of mines and handed it over to farmers so they can sow and harvest again. Top 3 regions in demining since the beginning of the year: Kherson, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that specialists use the most modern equipment, drones and robotic systems for demining. More and more new demining equipment is being produced by Ukrainian manufacturers.

"As part of the Made in Ukraine policy, the government will support such production. We will also increase the number of sappers. We are opening a special training center for this purpose," Shmyhal summarized.

What is known about 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.

In 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, media reported 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, the government said it would compensate farmers for 80% of demining costs.

On March 29, Ukraine’s Minister of Economy said that the country, together with the American corporation Palantir, is working on developing a demining system using artificial intelligence. It is to be presented in the summer.

In June, partner countries had allocated an additional $35 million for humanitarian demining projects in Ukraine.