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The challenges of contamination

Russian forces have used different types of mines in Ukraine, including anti-personnel, anti-vehicle, anti-tank mines, and IEDs. According to the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), reportedly two million of these devices are scattered under Ukrainian soil. Russian mine placement does not always observe a consistent pattern, which makes efforts to locate them complicated. Compounding the problem, mines are also being deployed with the use of drones. Alongside mines, unexploded missiles, drones, and artillery shells add further pressure on Ukraine and its civilians. Due to the highly intensive nature of the conflict, with warring parties firing thousands of shells along an overstretched frontline, ERW therefore also constitute a serious threat.

The majority of the lands contaminated by unexploded ordnance are agricultural areas, endangering the lives of local residents. Over six million Ukrainians are reported to live in or near these heavily mined and contaminated areas, with Ukraine’s agricultural heartlands, particularly in Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, heavily affected. Over 1,300 civilians have been killed or injured by mines and ERW since 2022, a toll that continues to rise.

The contamination of these and other areas of Ukraine has had humanitarian, economic and ecological repercussions for the country. The presence of mines and ERW hinders the return of internally displaced persons to their homes in liberated areas. Humanitarian demining is also especially difficult to carry out in villages and areas close to the frontline, with Ukrainian forces unable to spare the equipment or the personnel. Moreover, even in safe or less contaminated areas, people are often too afraid to go back, a psychological effect described as “perceived contamination”.

Mine and ERW contamination has also impacted greatly farming activities: according to Bellingcat, of Ukraine’s total 42 million hectares of agricultural land, only 24 million are currently safe and accessible. While other factors – land being located in areas of ongoing fighting, farm equipment being destroyed or farmers joining the armed forces, fleeing to safety or not returning – also bear responsibility for this state of affairs, landmines and ERW contribute significantly to the problem. Overall, this translates into over $11 billion of losses for the Ukrainian state budget, primarily due to a decline in agricultural exports, decreased productivity, and increased insurance and operational costs for farmers and agricultural firms.

Finally, mine and ERW contamination has had ecological repercussions concerning soil health, which are relevant to food production. In numerous oblasts, Ukraine’s carbon-rich and highly fertile “black soil” has been negatively affected by compression, craters, and chemical pollutants from mines and explosive ordnance, and significant investment in soil restoration will be needed following the war. Furthermore, toxin damage to local crops has been detected in areas affected by the outbreak of hostilities, with ammunition left on the ground releasing dangerous residues through decomposition. Water infrastructure and irrigation channels have also been polluted with heavy metals and explosive devices, thereby undermining the quality of food production.

The demining process

Ukraine has made significant progress in its demining efforts. By early 2025, about 35,000 km² of land had been surveyed and cleared. In 2024 alone, 17,000 km² were returned to use, including 2,850 km² of priority agricultural land that had been made safe for farmers to use. Furthermore, the number of certified mine clearance operators surged from 6 in 2023 to 107 in June 2025, while the sapper workforce expanded from 1,500 to over 4,000, supported by 150 mechanical demining machines. For deminers, obtaining a certificate previously involved a longer waiting period, lasting from six to eight months. Additionally, Ukraine’s domestic demining sector has experienced steady growth in recent years. Programs such as the Mine Action Accelerator, instituted in collaboration with the Kyiv School of Economics, have provided Ukrainian start-ups with support to create indigenous technologies for humanitarian demining. The Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture is also promoting the local production of demining equipment, with up to 40% of investment returns circulating back into Ukraine’s economy.

At the international level, support for the demining process has sought to provide funding and equipment, as well as to bring together different actors involved in the effort. Total partner contributions to humanitarian demining in Ukraine reached $1.1 billion by early 2025. The EU and its members have donated €370 million since 2022, while the US has provided more than $182 million up to 2024, albeit with significant reductions in aid taking effect in that year. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine, supported with funding from the EU and various governments, has also provided demining and protective equipment, along with remotely operated demining machines, to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU). Finally, platforms such as the Ukraine Mine Action Conference, an international forum to support mine action in the country, have been created. In 2025, the conference was held for its third consecutive year in Japan, gathering approximately 600 participants, including representatives from 75 countries and international organizations, as well as business leaders, NGOs, and mine action operators from Ukraine and beyond. Discussions concentrated on three key topics: people, technology, and nexus – a seamless transition from mine action to recovery and reconstruction. The conference also raised more than $80 million in new commitments to support humanitarian demining in Ukraine and saw the signing of numerous memoranda between governments to establish cooperation in support landmine clearance in Ukraine.

New technologies are able to play a crucial role in locating mines, expediting the clearance process and making it safer for demining specialists. AI is already being used to examine data derived from satellites, drones, government databases, and organizations on the ground to narrow down contaminated areas. To detect explosives underground, ground-penetrating radars, helpful for locating possible plastic mines, can be employed in combination with magnetic resonance technologies, which can identify the explosive content of specific devices. Finally, to safely extract landmines from the ground, robotic systems with compressed air nozzles can be utilized to blow out soil around the explosives, without triggering their pressure plates. If their use can be expanded on a larger scale, these technologies have the potential to remarkably speed up the demining process.

The challenges of demining

However, challenges still persist. Because of the scale of the contamination (and the continuation of hostilities), estimates of the amount of time needed to fully demine affected territory have varied from decades to hundreds of years, depending on the funding, equipment, and trained personnel available. The World Bank estimates clearing Ukraine of explosives will cost $34.6 billion through 2033, far exceeding the funds currently available. Moreover, due to wartime mobilization diverting potential recruits to defense roles, the number of deminers is still insufficient. Inadequacies are also to be found in the training of the sapper workforce, which requires significant time and resources, but largely follows military-oriented standards, limiting its usefulness in humanitarian demining. Furthermore, domestic inefficiencies such as fragmented coordination and governance, causing responsibilities to be dispersed across numerous actors, result in delays and duplicated efforts. Finally, incomplete and inconsistent data, stemming from multiple databases using different coordinate systems and lacking harmonized metadata, also contribute to raising the cost of the demining process.

Because of the ecological repercussions of mine and ERW contamination, the demining process will then need to be linked to efforts of soil restoration. While preliminary research suggests that land affected by heavy metals from ERW may be regenerated and potentially reused in the future, and although only a small proportion of soil across certain oblasts appears to be contaminated, it is important to note several caveats. First, ongoing hostilities prevent access to some areas, making it difficult to accurately assess the true extent of soil contamination. Second, because soil pollution affects not only crop yields on contaminated land, but can spread to groundwater, forest belts, and ultimately the food chain (thereby impacting other natural systems), focusing solely on mine clearance would be inadequate and likely more costly in the long term.

A successful demining process is crucial for Ukraine’s prospects of societal and economic recovery, post-war reconstruction, and the restoration of its role as a global food exporter. Understanding the trajectory of this effort requires examining how Kyiv coordinates it and addresses its associated challenges, alongside factors such as support from international partners and stakeholders, the evolution of the conflict, and future reconstruction plans for the country.

SOURCES:

– Anisimova, A. (2025, December 1). Humanitarian Demining and Ukraine’s Recovery: Lessons Yet to Learn. Free Network. https://freepolicybriefs.org/2025/12/01/humanitarian-demining-and-ukraines-recovery-lessons-yet-to-learn/

– Bellingcat Investigation Team. (2025, July 2). Ukraine’s Contaminated Land: Clearing Landmines With Rakes, Tractors and Drones. Bellingcat. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/07/02/ukraines-contaminated-land-clearing-landmines-with-rakes-tractors-and-drones/

– Beznosiuk, M. (2025, July 25). Landmines and Land Use: Unblocking Ukraine’s Rural and Climate Recovery. Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). https://www.ispionline.it/en/publication/landmines-and-land-use-unblocking-ukraines-rural-and-climate-recovery-214597

– Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS). (2025, October 28). Demining Ukraine: Outcomes from the 2025 Ukraine Mine Action Conference. https://www.csis.org/analysis/demining-ukraine-outcomes-2025-ukraine-mine-action-conference

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– Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. (2025, November 6). Ukraine Mine Action Conference (UMAC) 2025. https://www.mofa.go.jp/erp/seb/ua/pagewe_000001_00277.html

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