Ukrainian sappers clear almost half territory mined by Russian troops

Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the information in his evening address.

"Our first and baseline task is demining. The occupiers leave behind thousands of mines and unexploded ammunition. I have often heard estimates that clearing Ukraine of Russian mines will take decades. We cannot wait that long. We must do in mere years what anywhere else in the world could have taken decades. First and foremost, sappers are demining houses, social facilities, communications, roads - the entire living space. But the occupiers are mining everything: power lines, enterprise buildings, fields, forests. At the peak of mine contamination in Ukraine, we had 300,000 km² of territory that was dangerous for life," Zelenskyy said.

The President added that today that due to the true heroism of Ukrainian sappers and pyrotechnicians, emergency workers and everyone who helps them, some of the contaminated area has been cleared:

"Now there are about 170,000 km² left to clear. In particular, the most challenging zones where hostilities are still ongoing, where the enemy will leave more mines before leaving, as is the case now in Kherson... Also forests and a huge ​​field space.”