Ukraine demined 200,000 hectares of agricultural land in 2023

Photo: Ukrinform

Nina Voronets

According to First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yuliia Svyrydenko, the pyrotechnic teams from state agencies and non-governmental organizations have successfully recovered over 200,000 hectares of farmland since the start of the year. These lands were previously scheduled for priority inspection and demining and can now be used by Ukrainian farmers. Various regional military administrations provided this information.

The press service of the Ministry of Economy reported that.

"Our pyrotechnics – units of the State Emergency Service, State Security Service, and non-governmental operators of mine countermeasures demonstrate excellent results. Even now, in winter, when the weather, to put it mildly, does not favor work in the fields, 3 to 5 thousand hectares of agricultural land are inspected every week. Today, out of 470,000 hectares of land, which we planned to survey and, if necessary, clear and demine as a matter of priority, more than 200,000 hectares have already been returned to farmers for economic exploitation," Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

The First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – the Minister of Economy of Ukraine emphasized that the Government and international partners, in turn, are working hard on strengthening the capabilities of operators and strategic planning of the work of all relevant parties in the field of mine action for the next ten years. According to her, the ultimate goal is to return to safe use up to 80% of the country's territories, which are currently considered potentially contaminated.

According to the regional military administration's data, as of December 15, 268,600 hectares of agricultural land have been surveyed since the beginning of the year out of about 470,000 hectares planned for priority survey and demining. Of them, about 205,000 hectares have been returned to operation. Over 5,000 hectares were surveyed last week, with the largest 3.8 thousand hectares – in the Kherson region.

For reference:

The government allocated more than UAH 788 million for fortifications and the demining of territories at an extraordinary meeting.