Up to 270,000 sq km Need to Be Demined in Ukraine

As of today, about 270,000 square kilometres of territories, including occupied areas, need to be demined in Ukraine.

“Roads between the localities must be demined; localities, house territories, as well as territories around localities, must be completely demined. But full-fledged demining, which covers roads, forest belts, reservoirs, will take years,” Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrsky said.

According to him, now the Ministry of Internal Affairs is asking units of the State Emergency Service (SES) to conduct primary operational demining during the year.

He warned about the danger of swimming in most water reservoirs in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions due to mines. He added that Western partners might soon provide Ukrainian sappers with underwater drones to demine water reservoirs. Special equipment will neutralise explosive objects, even in poor visibility.

As the SES informs, a total of 138,178 explosive devices have been neutralised since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, including 1,994 aerial bombs.

According to experts, clearance of Ukraine’s territory from enemy mines and tripwires, according to the most optimistic forecasts, will take from five to seven years, excluding forests and large fields. At the same time, Russian troops continue to deliver mines remotely en mass in those areas where they expect a counteroffensive of Ukrainian troops.

Bohdan Marusyak