In 2024, 35 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory were cleared of mines and shells. And the sappers still have a lot of work to do

12 January 10:28

A sapper training center will be built in Ukraine with the support of the Japanese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. This was announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko in an op-ed for Channel 24, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

Since September 2024, the Office of Mine Action has been operating in the capital on the basis of the State Emergency Service, and it is there, as the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs explained, that the demining processes are monitored in real time. The main focus is on demining near power lines, pipelines, railways, roads and agricultural land.

According to Ihor Klymenko, underwater demining is a separate challenge.

“For almost three years, SES sappers have cleared more than 16,000 hectares of water bodies, removing and neutralizing more than 2,000 explosive devices. The Underwater Demining Center is currently being modernized. 336 sappers-divers are ready to perform tasks, including 24 specialists for deep-sea demining using barocamps to a depth of 50 meters,” said the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Ihor Klymenko said that since the beginning of the work, the sappers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have removed more than 898,000 explosive items. Over the past year, National Police units neutralized 339 such items per km² of mined land on average, while pyrotechnics of the State Emergency Service neutralized 156.

The Interior Minister said that in 2024, a quarter of the SES pyrotechnics working in the de-occupied territories were engaged in clearing agricultural land. And in 2025, three times as many pyrotechnics will be clearing these important areas for the country’s economy.

What are the results of humanitarian demining in 2024?

Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, outlined last year’s results of humanitarian demining in the language of numbers:

– 35 thousand square kilometers of territory were inspected and cleared of explosive objects;

– during 2024, about 17 thousand square kilometers were returned to use;

– 3.18 thousand square kilometers of agricultural land were surveyed (in 2023 – 2.75 thousand square kilometers);

– 2.85 thousand square kilometers were returned to farmers for putting into economic use (in 2023 – about 2.0 thousand square kilometers);

– 73 mine action operators were certified by the end of the year (26 at the beginning of the year), almost 5.5 thousand specialists are involved in the work (about 3.5 thousand at the beginning of the year);

– more than 200 mechanical demining machines are in operation (three times more than at the end of 2023), some of which were manufactured, partially localized or assembled in Ukraine;

– the market for demining services was launched, the state ensures that 100% of the costs incurred by farmers are covered (UAH 1 billion was allocated for this purpose in the budget for 2024 for the general fund and UAH 2 billion for the special fund);

– the total amount of funding raised from international partners reached USD 1.1 billion

Василевич Сергій
Editor