Ukraine's Defence Ministry comments on progress in clearing Ukraine from mines

A total of 30,000 square kilometres of Ukraine-controlled territory of Ukraine have been declared free of explosive devices. Ukraine’s Defence Ministry has said that this is 17% of territory that had previously been declared contaminated by explosives.

Source: Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, citing Colonel Ruslan Berehulia, Head of the Mine Clearing Operations, Civil Protection and Environmental Safety of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

Quote from Berehulia: "Thanks to our joint efforts, today the contaminated area has been reduced by 30,000 square kilometres. This means that no explosive devices were found on this territory, or they have been found and defused."

Details: Berehulia said that Kherson, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv oblasts remain the most affected. A total of around 50% of all incidents involving explosive devices among the civilian population had occurred in those regions.

According to Berehulia, mine clearance is a comprehensive process, which involves chemical analysis of agricultural soils for the presence of hazardous substances and other measures. Landowners and local communities are provided with recommendations concerning the use of land for agricultural purposes.

Berehulia also said that mine clearance teams of the security and defence forces and other mine clearance operators are using 78 automated mine clearance vehicles, which have been manufactured both in Ukraine and abroad to clear the liberated territories of explosive devices.

Background:

• The area of Ukraine-controlled territories that have been liberated from Russian occupation and could potentially be contaminated with explosives was estimated at 174,000 square kilometres, including 14,000 square kilometres of various bodies of water.

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