Over the past week, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry demining units cleared a total area of 15 hectares and disposed of 4,599 explosive objects, as reported in a Facebook post by the Ministry.
In spring 2023, there were approximately 500 demining teams or up to 5,000 military engineers/deminers working in Ukraine. At this rate, it would take around 20 years to clear 4,700 km2. Assuming all 174,000 km2 of Ukrainian territory affected by combat is contaminated, it would take 757 years to clear all affected areas with such a human resource capacity.
“Ukraine is the most potentially mine-contaminated country in the world since the Second World War. A third of its territory, covering up to 174,000 square kilometers, is potentially under threat,” Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said last October.
The Defense Ministry says that overall, 7,686.75 hectares of terrain, 7,622.25 hectares of farmland, 19.45 km of roads, and 0.3 km of pipelines were inspected and cleared last week. The operation involves 255 demining groups.
Demining operations are conducted using specialized mechanized equipment. In total, Defense Ministry sappers have discovered and neutralized 304,507 explosive objects.
