Demining Ukraine: 3,500 sappers currently available “not enough”, says deputy minister

There are currently 3,500 sappers working in Ukraine, but this is an insufficient number for rapidly clearing mine-contaminated territories.

Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravainyi, who coordinates humanitarian demining efforts, noted this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"It’s 3,500 sappers, according to the latest data. But imagine, 3,500 people who know how to neutralize mines seems to be an extremely large number, but this is not enough for us. It seems to me that even if we rally all sappers or trained people who can demine areas from all over the world and bring them to Ukraine, this will still not be enough," Bezkaravainyi said.

Speaking of the new National Mine Action Strategy presented by the Ministry in December 2023, the official noted that its main goal is to reduce the impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance.

"We do not aim to find all mines and remove them from the ground. Our goal is to reduce the impact of these landmines on people's livelihoods and our economy. That is, we cannot claim that in 10 years we need to demine all territories. It would be impossible. What is possible is to reduce the impact of contaminated areas. If we have identified that a certain area is contaminated, it is more appropriate to fence it off with barbed wire and clear it later at some point. These decisions should be made in a reasoned, balanced manner and preferably with the use of a scientific approach. Therefore, the goal is to reduce the impact of explosive objects. And within 10 years, 80% of our territories, which now have the status of potentially dangerous areas, will be productively used again," explained the deputy minister.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on January 12, the Lithuania-led Demining Coalition in support of Ukraine met in Vilnius to discuss Ukraine’s needs and the possible contribution by partners. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, as well as delegates from 19 partner countries, who were joined by representatives from six other countries via video link.