Yuliia Shchetyna
Journalist
Radio Liberty
Ukraine
Journalist
Lännen Media
Finland
shetinashetina@gmail.com
I am a journalist from Ukraine who grew up in the Kherson region, amidst endless fields and winding rivers. Most of all, in my childhood, I loved collecting wildflowers and walking near the Ingulets River, which stretches across the entire Right Bank of the Kherson region. Now all my memories are shattered. My native land is one of the most mined territories in the world.
When Russia began the war in Ukraine in 2014, I was 17 years old. I was finishing school and preparing to enter university. It was difficult to realize that my country had started a struggle to preserve independence, that is, was in a war with one of the largest countries in the world.
30% of Ukraine's territory is mined
It was from that time that the mass mining of the territory of Ukraine began, and since the early months of 2022, it has reached the largest scale in world history. According to the head of the Ukrainian government, Denys Shmyhal, about 30% of the country's territory - approximately 174,000 square kilometers - is potentially mined. Significant parts of the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Kharkiv regions remain heavily mined. The problem of mining is especially acute for the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions, where active combat operations continue to this day.
When I first came to the Kherson region since the beginning of the large-scale invasion to visit my parents, we drove along the fields familiar to me. It was the beginning of summer, and poppies were blooming on the edge of the road. There I saw white ribbons attached to trees or bushes, and my father explained to me that only 2 meters from the edge of the road were demined; stepping beyond that could cost you your life.
Engineers clear up to 500 hectares per day
Kherson region is a territory of fields and agriculture. People living in this region make a living by growing wheat, barley, and sunflowers. As soon as the Right Bank of the Kherson region was de-occupied, people began to take risks and independently explore their fields. During that time, almost every day, there were reports in the news about people being blown up in the fields.
According to the head of the press service of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Alexander Tolokonnikov, by mid-December 2023, 155,000 hectares of land in the Kherson region had been demined. In other words, the corresponding brigades clear approximately 500 hectares per day.
"For now, we cannot work on the coast because it is dangerous. When we push the Russians (the Russian army - ed.) back at least 30-50 kilometers from the shore on the Left Bank, then our explosive experts and sappers will be able to work on the coast as well. There is a lot of work there, very dense minefields, including many blown power lines that need to be restored," the official said.
Currently, approximately 25% of the territory of the rightbank of Kherson has been demined; before the sowing campaign, this figure will reach 30-35%, Tolokonnikov predicts. In total, it will take 4 years to demine this part of the region if current rates are maintained.
The profession of a SAPPER
The profession of a sapper has gained popularity in Ukraine due to the need to demine territories. Currently, there are four training centers in the country where anyone can take specific courses and help the country in the demining process. Training at the center takes one month.
Anna Anisimova also completed such courses. Before the large-scale invasion, she worked as a graphic designer, but with the start of hostilities in her native Chernihiv region, she decided to change her profession.
"At some point, I realized that if I made the decision to stay in Ukraine, I needed to do something useful. Humanitarian demining is gaining momentum; everyone can retrain and become a sapper. That's why I decided to help the country in this way."
Anna shares that she has already worked in the territory of the Kharkiv region.
"My first day as a sapper was very intense. We arrived at a specific location and were briefed. There was a small exam, and then we were taken to the field. We watched how more experienced sappers worked and then started exploring the field ourselves."
I asked Anna how long she plans to stay in the sapper profession and if she has any desire to return to her work as a graphic designer.
"It's a tough question. Right now, it's very difficult to plan my future and my life. In the next 3-5 years, I plan to stay in this profession, maybe I'll start teaching for people who also want to become sappers. I think I'll stay in this field as long as I can."
757 years for complete demining of the territory
The contaminated territory of Ukraine is so vast that, according to some experts' estimates, it will take about 757 years for a complete demining of the territories, as reported by The Washington Post.
Furthermore, when demining lands, it is essential to consider the economic feasibility of this process, as explained by the head of the mine clearance operator company, Ukraine Demanding Services, Alexander Liev.
"In France, there are still lands that remain mined and contaminated from the First World War. Economically, it is considered impractical to demine them because the cost of demining one hectare, for example, through mechanical demining, is approximately 250,000-300,000 hryvnias (6,500-8,000 U.S. dollars) per hectare. The cost of manual demining, considering the average wage and equipment depreciation, ranges from 3 to 5 million hryvnias (80,000-130,000 USD) per hectare. When agricultural land in Ukraine is worth 1,500 to 2,000 dollars, spending over 6,000 dollars for mechanical demining or nearly 100,000 dollars for manual demining is a substantial expense," explained Liev.
According to the World Bank's estimates, demining Ukraine costs between 2 to 8 dollars per square meter. In other words, complete demining over the next 10 years will cost approximately 37.5 billion dollars.
For the people in our village, waiting another 757 years is not an option. The seeds will have to be sown again in Spring.