The area of potentially mined territories in Ukraine shrunk by over 20% since the end of 2022 to approximately 137,000 square kilometers, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced following a meeting on humanitarian demining measures at the State Emergency Service's Mine Action Office.
The remaining contaminated area consists predominantly of agricultural land, according to Shmyhal.
"The resource of 112 certified operators, eight of which are foreign currently working in Ukraine, includes over 9,000 specialists, 278 demining and earthmoving equipment units, and over 13,000 metal detectors," the Prime Minister said.
Following the meeting, the Prime Minister assigned ministries and responsible officials several tasks, including accelerating the launch of the Register of Territories Contaminated with Explosive Ordnance and developing an action plan to attract international financing directly for demining activities.
Ukraine has formed an international anti-mine coalition of over fifty states and secured $1.2 billion in aid for territory clearance, according to Shmyhal.
"Humanitarian demining is a key element of rapid recovery. Our goal is to constantly increase the pace of work to clear Ukrainian fields, villages, cities, and infrastructure from mines as quickly as possible," the Prime Minister concluded.
Earlier, the government announced allocation of over 22 billion UAH ($528 mn) in partner-provided financial resources for recovery needs, with nearly 18.5 billion UAH ($445 mn) from the Japan International Cooperation Agency designated for medicine, education, agriculture, humanitarian demining, and restoration of municipal services in Ukrainian cities.
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