PM Shmyhal: Ukraine plans to demine its territories within 5-7 years

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said that Ukraine plans to demine its territories in 5-7 years after the end of the war.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that Ukraine has created the necessary infrastructure for humanitarian demining. According to him, all state institutions are working on solving the relevant problem; this process is coordinated by First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, the Prime Minister said that Ukraine is preparing for the international forum on humanitarian demining, which will be held in October in Zagreb, Croatia. During this event, the Ukrainian authorities will once again coordinate efforts with partners in the relevant field.

"Unfortunately, Ukraine is now a leader in terms of the area of mined land, but I assure you that Ukraine will be a leader in humanitarian and demining in general. According to scientists, we need tens, maybe even hundreds, of years, if we take standard demining technologies. We have an ambition to complete the demining of large-scale agricultural lands within 3 years after the liberation of the territories. And in general - to complete the demining of the entire territory of Ukraine within 5-7 years," the Prime Minister said.

Shmyhal underscored that Ukraine is actively working with international partners and technology companies to achieve this goal. "We will use drones for this, as modern technologies. We have already worked with partners to attract humanitarian aid, additional equipment, and robots. We have started to manufacture Ukrainian demining equipment for our farmers. It's all in the work," he said.

At the same time, the Prime Minister announced that 190,000 hectares of agricultural land have been inspected out of the first 470,000 hectares identified as priorities for demining.

As reported, as of March 2023, the total area of mined territories in Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression reached 174,000 square kilometers.