More than 200,000 ha of farmland cleared of mines since-year start – PM Shmyhal

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this at a government meeting on Friday, Ukrinform reports.

“Thousands of sappers from the State Emergency Service and the State Transport Special Service work every day to inspect and clear our land of mines. However, the scale of the work is so large that we need additional tools. That is why we are creating a humanitarian demining market and engaging private mine action operators,” he said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that mine clearance efforts are focused on demining farmland.

“Our farmers working in the de-occupied territories will be fully compensated for the costs of humanitarian demining. The state budget provides UAH 3 billion for this program,” he said.

Shmyhal noted that since the beginning of the year, sappers have inspected more than 200,000 hectares of farmland, cleared it of mines so that farmers can sow and harvest again.

According to him, since the beginning of the year, the greatest number of demining operations have been conducted in three regions: Kherson, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv regions.

“We use the most modern equipment, drones, and robotic systems. It is crucial that Ukrainian manufacturers continue to produce an increasing amount of new demining equipment. As part of the “Made in Ukraine” policy, the state will support such production,” the Prime Minister assured.

He emphasized that it is also necessary to increase the number of sappers. Therefore, the state is opening a special training center.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, but thanks to the support of our partners from around the world, we will clear Ukraine of Russian mine debris,” the Prime Minister summarized.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, according to expert estimates, Ukraine needs about 10,000 sappers to clear the land contaminated by Russian mine and explosive debris.

Photo: State Transport Special Service