Ukraine Clears Over 18,000 Hectares of Agricultural Land in November Demining Efforts
2 December, 2024 Illustrative image of the demining process. Photo from open sources In November, mine clearance units of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine cleared 18,445.39 hectares (approximately 45,579.45 acres) of explosive ordnance.
The press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported on this. It is detailed that of this amount, 18,266.09 hectares are agricultural land. In addition, the work included cleaning 18.02 km of roads and inspecting 31.6 km of railroad.
During demining, 4,456 explosive items were found and destroyed. Since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion, the total number of explosive devices has amounted to 415,681.
Demining infographic for November. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
According to the Main Directorate of Mine Action, Civil Protection and Environmental Safety, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is engaging demining units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the State Transport Special Service to clear the de-occupied territories of explosive ordnance.
During the last week of November, 192 demining groups with a total of 905 people and 17 mechanized demining vehicles were involved in clearing the territories. As of today, 69 mine action operators have been certified in Ukraine. After receiving the relevant certificate, they are authorized to conduct humanitarian demining, i.e., in areas where active hostilities are not taking place.
A sapper with an individual demining kit.
2024. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
Mine clearance of Ukrainian lands
On November 7, it was reported that Ukraine had launched training courses for military environmental auditors in the field of humanitarian demining. Upon completion of the training, the specialists will document audits, draw up working and final reports in accordance with EU environmental legislation.
The GCS-200 mine clearance vehicle, which was transferred to Ukraine by the United States. June, 2024. Ukraine.
Photo credits: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
The course "Environmental Audit and Environmental Issues Related to Humanitarian Demining" was organized by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Environment as part of the OSCE Support Program for Ukraine.
It was also reported that the United States would allocate £35 million in 2025 as part of international support for humanitarian demining in Ukraine.