Humanitarian mine clearance: Over 20,000 hectares of agricultural land surveyed in Ukraine in January

More than 21,000 hectares of agricultural land were inspected in Ukraine in January, new mine action operators were certified, and access has been granted to state mine action standards. 

Source: press service of the Ministry of Economy

Details: Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, noted that bomb disposal experts achieved good results in 2023. The Ministry of Economy has therefore updated the action plan for the mine clearance of agricultural land, increasing the areas designated for priority return to economic use. 

"Working under the updated plan, the State Emergency Service, the State Specialised Transport Service and non-governmental operators surveyed more than 21,000 hectares of land in the first month. Given that winter is a difficult period for mine clearance, we have set a good pace," Svyrydenko said.

The largest area of agricultural land surveyed in January was in Kherson Oblast – almost 19,700 hectares. More than 1,100 hectares were surveyed in Mykolaiv Oblast, and about 200 hectares in Kharkiv Oblast. 

In addition, the number of certified mine action operators in Ukraine has increased compared to the end of last year.

"In December last year, there were 26 certified operators in Ukraine. As of now, we have 29 operators. So our capabilities are increasing. Today we are working to improve, digitalise and speed up the certification process," Svyrydenko added.

On 29 January, the Ministry of Economy opened up free access to the state standard on mine action. This means that operators or companies intending to work in mine action will no longer need to pay to obtain information on the state standard.

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