Clearing the path: Rubryka’s photo report on demining in Holy Mountains National Park’s front-line areas

After its de-occupation, Rubryka visited the Holy Mountains National Nature Park in the Donetsk region. The purpose of the visit was to document and showcase the process of demining the park's forests and the significance of this effort. For more information, check out the photo report below.

In Ukraine, demining is carried out in a specific order in de-occupied territories:

• Initially, priority is given to demining settlements and essential facilities,
• followed by agricultural fields,
• and lastly, forests.

For example, emergency services have begun demining forest roads in the Holy Mountains National Nature Park near Sviatohirsk, even though some private areas in nearby settlements have not yet been cleared. However, this is a crucial decision that needs to be made.

The roads within the National Park's forests are regularly cleared of explosive devices to ensure the ability to combat forest fires effectively. Due to the high frequency of shelling in the neighboring front-line area, the risk of fires here is significantly increased. Dry pine forests in this region also burn quickly after exposure to shelling. Other causes for fires, both human-made and natural, also pose a potential threat. Although rare, even lightning strikes can spark fires in these forests.

That's why the State Emergency Service's sappers are working to clear forest roads, enabling fire trucks to reach the fire site and contain the flames before they spread further.

Three sappers with metal detectors walk in a line. They split the road into three sections – the left and right paths and the area in between – and search along these paths into the forest. They also scan the land on both sides of the road, but only up to one meter from the edge.

According to Serhii, the group leader, wearing body armor and helmets is crucial when performing demining operations. He explains that some mines can detonate from a distance of 7 meters and are designed to detect human footsteps up to 15 meters away, exploding when a person gets too close.

Over time, the mined area becomes covered in grass, leaves, and needles, which adds to the challenges. As a result, it is impossible to see the ammunition, and simply looking carefully is not sufficient to navigate through a potentially mined forest.

The process of demining is not a quick one. While accompanying the sappers, Rubryka's journalist had to pause multiple times as the metal detector would sound for a new discovery. Each time, a thorough inspection of the area was required due to uncovering buttons, coins, or metal covers.

Sappers from the State Emergency Service have marked the territories with a red and white ribbon.

"This is a standard for the whole of Ukraine, and only such tape is used by sappers. If you see markings made of yellow, green, or blue isolation tape or any other, these are not our designations. The military could have left them, and they could have many meanings," sappers say.

Rubryka is warning readers that the State Emergency Service's map marks territories that may be mined and that it is currently dangerous to pass through these areas.

For reference:

It's important to mention that 80% of the forests in the Holy Mountains National Nature Park, located in the northern part of the Donetsk region, were destroyed as a result of Russia's full-scale war. The estimated cost of the environmental damage to the park amounts to approximately 16 billion hryvnias.

Recently, Rubryka visited the Holy Mountains National Nature Park in the Donetsk region near Sviatohirsk and Sloviansk, showing how forests are being saved in the front-line territories.

Viktoriia Hubareva, an environmental journalist for Rubryka and Ecorubric, will also be featured in an upcoming documentary titled "Save Me." The premiere is set for early 2025.