Mines in Ukraine: ‘The threat is pervasive’

International

-DW News

Kyiv,
Sep
25:
The
peace
and
quiet
in
the
forests
around
Brovary
is
deceptive,
said
Mairi
Cunningham
of
the
Halo
Trust.
Speaking
with
DW
by
phone,
she
said
she
was
there
only
a
few
hour
ago.

“It’s
a
perfectly
peaceful,
green
area
in
the
northeast
of
Kyiv
where
you
don’t
see
any
traces
of
the
conflict.
I
felt
like
I
was
far
away
from
the

war
in
Ukraine.”

But
mines
have
been
lying
there
since
fierce
fighting
raged
in
the
area
in
late
March
2022.
The
Ukrainian
army
was
able
to
push
back
the
advance
of
Russian
tanks
on
the
capital,
Kyiv
—
but
the
mines
remained.

“The
threat
is
pervasive
and
deadly,”
said
Cunningham.
She
heads
the
Ukraine
program
of
the
Halo
Trust,
the
world’s
largest
land
mine
clearance
charity.
“Here
in
Brovary,
we’ve
already
been
able
to
clear
some
areas,
so
people
can
return
to
some
semblance
of
normality.
But
the
scale
of
the
problem
is
vast.”

The
Halo
Trust’s
current
480
employees
are
searching
for
explosives
with
metal
detectors,
square
meter
by
square
meter.
They’re
also
drawing
maps
and
defusing
mines
and
booby
traps.
Next
year,
the
Halo
Trust
plans
to
employ
1,200
people
in
Ukraine.

“Our
Ukrainian
team
is
extremely
committed
to
supporting
the
reconstruction
of
their
community,
despite
the
ongoing
conflict,”
said
Cunningham.
But,
of
course,
this
work
cannot
take
place
without
international
support,
she
added.

Mexico
bats
for
international
peace
committee
for
Ukraine
with
PM
Modi

Money
from
Germany

Financial
aid
from
Germany
plays
a
key
role,
said
Cunningham.
In
total,
Germany
has
provided
€8.4
million
($8.14
million)
for
demining
programs
since
the
Russian
invasion
of
Ukraine
began
in
February,
a
German
Foreign
Ministry
spokesman
told
DW.

The
largest
chunk
of
this
funding,
€6
million,
will
go
to
the
Halo
Trust.
Handicap
International
and
the
United
Nations
Development
Program
also
receive
support
for
demining.
The
Foreign
Ministry
is
prepared
for
the
fact
that
the
need
for
support
will
be
high
in
the
long
term,
the
spokesman
added.

As
recently
as
September
10,
Foreign
Minister
Annalena
Baerbock
visited
a
minefield
near
Kyiv
that
is
being
cleared
by
the
Halo
Trust.
“It
is
important
that
life
on
the
ground
here
can
continue,”
Baerbock
said
at
the
time.

Metal
detectors
are
in
short
supply

Staff
at
the
Ukrainian
Deminers
Association
are
also
working
on
ensuring
that
life
can
continue.
“At
the
moment,
our
deminers
are
working
in
the
Bucha
and
Chernihiv
regions,”
Tymur
Pistriuha
told
DW
over
the
phone.
He
heads
the
small
NGO,
which
employs
just
under
20
deminers,
though
he
would
like
to
hire
more
staff.

“Every
day
we
receive
applications
from
people
who
are
willing
to
be
a
deminer.
But
it’s
a
matter
of
money;
we
can
not
recruit
all
of
them,”
he
said.

Pistriuha
wants
the
German
government
to
support
not
only
large
international
organizations
like
the
Halo
Trust,
but
also
small
Ukrainian
NGOs
like
his.
His
deminers
lack
metal
detectors,
he
said
—
and
excellent
detectors
are
manufactured
in
Germany.
He
would
like
to
have
some
of
these,
or
even
robotic
vehicles
for
defusing
mines.

‘Profound
concern’:
At
UNSC,
India
calls
for
immediate
end
to
Ukraine
conflict

To
illustrate
the
huge
scale
of
the
task,
Pistriuha
points
to
a
map.
As
of
September
8,
almost
139,000
square
kilometers
(54,000
square
miles)
of
land
in
Ukraine
have
to
be
checked
for
mines,
booby
traps
and
unexploded
ordnance.
That
represents
an
area
larger
than
Greece.
Mines
aren’t
just
found
in
fields
and
forests,
either
—
Russian
soldiers
also
booby-trapped
house
doors,
washing
machines
and
children’s
toys.

Humanitarian
organizations
such
as
the
Ukrainian
Deminers
Association
or
the
Halo
Trust
clear
mines
in
areas
where
there
is
no
longer
fighting.
Military
units
are
responsible
for
mine
clearance
near
the
front
lines.

Germany
also
wants
to
support
Ukraine
in
this
effort.
To
this
end,
some
20
Ukrainian
soldiers
are
due
to
attend
the

Bundeswehr’s
explosive
ordnance
disposal
school
in
Stetten
am
Kalten
Markt
in
southern
Germany
for
training.
According
to
Defense
Minister
Christine
Lambrecht,
the
Bundeswehr
also
wants
to
provide
material
“so
that
Ukraine
can
fight
this
battle
against
this
disgusting
use
of
weapons,
namely
mines
and
booby
traps.”

Clearance
will
take
decades

But
exactly
what
material
the
Bundeswehr
is
supplying
is
unclear.
For
security
reasons,
no
details
could
be
given,
an
army
spokesman
told
DW.
So
far,
the
German
government
has
announced
the
delivery
of
just
four
remote-controlled
demining
devices
to
Ukraine.

These
could
be
the
remote-controlled
robot
tEODor,
which
looks
like
a
mini
tank
no
bigger
than
a
shopping
cart.
With
its
gripper
arm,
it
can
hold
objects
weighing
up
to
100
kilograms
(220
pounds).
Using
a
high-pressure
water
jet,
a
bolt
gun
or
a
shotgun,
it
is
able
to
destroy
explosive
devices.

Even
before
the
Russian
invasion
began
in
February,
Ukraine
was
heavily
laden
with
mines
and
munitions,
some
dating
back
to
the
two
world
wars
in
the
20th
century
and
some
from
the
war
in
the
Donbas,
ongoing
since
2014.
Even
experts
cannot
currently
estimate
how
many
mines
will
need
to
be
cleared
in
Ukraine
in
the
coming
years.

“The
international
community
needs
to
know
that
there
is
an
unprecedented
challenge
ahead,”
said
Cunningham
of
the
Halo
Trust.
“It
is
of
huge
proportions,
and
it
requires
long-term
investment.”

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Source: DW