Due to intense hostilities in about 30% of Ukraine's territory (174,000km²), landmines may have been planted by Russian occupation forces to cover the whole area, Globsec reports.
This makes Ukraine the largest mined area in the world, surpassing Afghanistan and Syria. Kharkiv and Kherson regions have been most affected, as Russian soldiers had been there for an extended period.
The demining process will be more difficult now due to the long military operations, a 10-fold increase in potential contamination, and a wider range of munitions being used. Russian forces have also been found to be planting live landmines on animals and corpses and leaving double and triple mini-traps in various locations.
Agricultural fields and lands have also been intentionally mined, rendering them unusable. Despite the efforts of around 500 demining teams involving 5,000 military engineers and sappers, only 2.5% of potential mined areas have been cleared between 2015-2021. At this rate, it could take 757 years for the current experts to clear the 174,000km² of ammunition.
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