Ukraine is the most mined country in the world, it may take 757 years to completely demine its territories if it is handled by 500 teams of specialists who are working in the country now, The Washington Post writes.
“According to a recent report by Slovakian think tank GLOBSEC, about 30% of Ukraine’s territory (more than 67,000 square kilometers) has been severely affected by munitions and will require time-consuming, expensive and dangerous demining operations,” the article says.
Referring to the GLOBSEC data, the publication notes that “Ukraine has become the largest mined territory in the world, surpassing Afghanistan and Syria”.
The Washington Post also writes that the international non-profit organization HALO Trust, which deals with mine clearance, based on information from open sources has tracked more than 2,300 incidents on the territory of Ukraine, during which munitions requiring clearance were found.
In addition, from the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 through July 2023, the United Nations has documented 298 civilian deaths from explosive remnants of war, including 22 children, and 632 civilian injuries.
“Ukraine’s contaminated territory is so large that some experts estimate that humanitarian cleanup will take the roughly 500 demining teams currently working 757 years,” The Washington Post summarized.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/
