«Let's not mislead.» Who and when will demine the Mykolaiv region?

Sappers work in the Shevchenkove community, photo: NikVesti

For more than two years, demining of the Mykolaiv region — one of the most mined regions of Ukraine — has been going on. Since that time, more than 20,000 hectares of potentially mined territories of the region have been demined, but to date, not all territories have even been surveyed.

Today, professional sappers continue to work in the Mykolayiv region: state units, Ukrainian and foreign companies. If in 2023 the rate of demining of the region was quite fast, then at the beginning of 2024 it slowed down somewhat.

Who is demining the Mykolaiv Oblast today and when the region will become completely safe — read in the NikVesti material.

More than 20,000 hectares have been demined

Since the beginning of the Great War, more than 30% of the region was considered potentially mined. This is 800,000 hectares of the region, of which 14,000 hectares of the Kinburn spit are still under occupation, and 55,000 hectares of the Ochakiv and Kutsurub communities are still in the zone of active hostilities.

Mined fields in Shyroke community, October 2024, photo NikVesti

To date, it has been possible to survey 320,000 potentially mined hectares, of which 23,800 hectares have been demined, reported NikVesti in the Mykolaiv RMA. These are power lines, railway tracks, highways, fields, gas pipelines, water areas, forests, residential buildings. Another 18,400 hectares of contaminated territories need to be demined, but this figure may change, as the survey process is still ongoing.

Currently, rescuers, the police, units of the State Transport Service (DSST), foreign and Ukrainian licensed companies are working on demining, and until recently, military sappers worked.

«At the beginning of the year, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine worked, but they were sent to other regions in general,» said the deputy head of the Mykolaiv RMA Heorhii Reshetilov.

Deputy Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Heorhii Reshetilov, photo NikVesti

The following are responsible for the distribution of territories to be surveyed and demined:

• Center for mine action, which determines in which areas foreign and Ukrainian licensed companies will work;
• The national authority on mine action issues, which determines in which areas the divisions of the State Emergency Service, the National Police, the State Security Service and the Armed Forces of Ukraine will work.

Emergency services are currently working in two communities of the region

One of the largest deminers of the Mykolaiv region today are sappers of the State Emergency Service. Over two years, they surveyed more than 60,000 hectares and cleared almost 10,000 hectares of mines and explosive objects, informed NikVesti at the Main Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Mykolaiv region.

Deputy head of the pyrotechnic division of underwater and humanitarian demining Yevhen Kumbrii told NikVesti that during the demining of the Mykolaiv Oblast, it was the most difficult to work in the Snihurivka community.

«We worked both in the city of Mykolaiv and outside the city of Mykolaiv, but the most dangerous place where we worked was the Snihurivka community. What was de-occupied territory,» he says.

According to him, various explosive objects are discovered on the territory of Mykolaiv Oblast after the deoccupation. Among them are mines of various types: They can be anti-personnel, anti-tank and engineering mines. They can be hidden in soil, grass or even on roads.

Today, the pyrotechnic units of the State Emergency Service work in three areas of the Mykolaiv and Bashtanka districts of the region. These are 170 hectares of fields of the Pervomaisk and Snihurivka communities.

Sappers work on a mined field near Snihurivka, archival photo NikVesti

The State Emergency Service speaks of «positive dynamics» in the demining of the Mykolaiv region, but clarifies that for a faster and more efficient process they do not have enough people for the pyrotechnic units.

How does humanitarian demining work in the region?

A total of 9 humanitarian demining operators are currently working in the region:

• 5 foreign certified companies: HALO Trust, Danish Council for Refugees in Ukraine, Norwegian International Organization «Norwegian People's Aid», DanChurchAid Representative Office in Ukraine, The Mines Advisory Group in Ukraine;
• 4 Ukrainian certified companies: Ukrainian demining services, Association of Sappers of Ukraine, Nibulon and All-Ukrainian Organization for Humanitarian Disasters and Refugees.

For example, the humanitarian demining organization HALO Trust has been working in Ukraine since 2015. Until 2022, the project was implemented only on the territory of the Donetsk region, however, since the beginning of the full-scale war, the company has expanded its work and since March 2023 has been working in the Mykolaiv region.

The process of demining fields in Shyroke community, October 2024, photo NikVesti

And within a year, in March 2024, The HALO Trust handed over the first mine-cleared plots of land to the communities of the Bashtan district of the region.

«This is the agricultural plot «Novopetrivka-3». On March 19, 2023, an accident occurred here — a tractor blew up on an anti-tank mine. After that, our manual demining team came here and cleared the area,» said Oleksii Davydovych, head of HALO Trust's demining teams.

Today, the company's sappers work in one of the most mined villages of the Mykolayiv region — Bezimenne. But despite the work of the State Emergency Service and HALO Trust teams, complete cleaning is still a long way off. A resident of the village, Olha Kuhar, doubts whether it will ever be possible to completely clear the settlement of mines.

«I don't know if it can ever be fully demined, there could be anything in those bushes under the houses,» the woman said.

At the same time, one of the Ukrainian operators of humanitarian demining — the Nibulon company — in just one year of work surveyed all its potentially dangerous fields and returned 98% of their territories to cultivation, Mykhailo Rizak, director of interaction with the authorities of the Nibulon company, told NikVesti. These are 5.5 thousand hectares in Snihurivka, Shirokivska, Novopavlivska and Novopetrivska territorial communities.

«A total of 25,500 hectares were potentially dangerous from the beginning of the war. Of these, 20,000 hectares are still under temporary occupation. That is, we do not have access to them. These are the lands of branches of the Kupiansk, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions,» added Mykhailo Rizak.

The process of demining fields in the Shyroke community by the Nibulon company, October 2024, photo NikVesti

As of October 2024, the company has only 2% of its fields in the Mykolaiv region left to clear. This is 134.5 hectares of land in the Shyroke territorial community.

«We were 100% committed to the deadlines and fulfilled the plan to return part of our branch to land cultivation. It should also be understood that Nibulon is a company that exports only 5% of its own agricultural products, the other 95% are small and medium-sized farmers, that is, about 3,500 small and medium-sized farmers who sell products to us. We are interested in these farmers returning to farming as soon as possible,» he said.

Mykolaiv Oblast has almost fulfilled the demining plan for the year

As of November 2024, the rate of demining in the Mykolaiv RMA is assessed as «pretty good», but they emphasize that the rate of survey of potentially mined areas should be distinguished from the rate of the demining process itself.

«Implied? The plan approved for the Mykolaiv region is almost 44,000 hectares for 2024. Currently, 33,000 hectares have been surveyed, of which 2,000 hectares have been demined, and another 3,000 hectares are to be demined. The pace at the end of the year is increased. I have an objective hope that we will manage to implement this plan by the end of the year,» Deputy Head of RMA Heorhii Reshetilov told NikVesti.

The process of demining fields in Shyroke community, October 2024, photo NikVesti

It is difficult to answer when it will be possible to exchange Mykolaiv Oblast, says Heorhii Reshetilov. Because it mainly depends on the number of equipment and units involved in this process. Moreover, part of the region is still in the zone of active hostilities, and another part is under occupation.

«Let's not mislead anyone. That is, forecasting is necessary and possible, but a lot depends on the forces and means that will be involved. We understand that every year is a change. We still can't plan the Ochakiv territorial community. Operational demining is taking place there, but all these territories will need to be surveyed later. This applies to both the Kutsurub community and the occupied Kinburn spit,» says the deputy head of the RMA.

What the plan for demining the region will be in 2025 is yet to be seen, said Heorhii Reshetilov. This plan should be determined by the National Mine Action Authority.

«That is, he is currently collecting proposals, including from the Mykolaiv region, and then he will approve them with demining plans. Now it is not approved. Information and proposals are being collected, which we also submit. We have offers of about 29,000 for next year,» said the deputy chairman of RMA.

The process of demining fields in Shyroke community, October 2024, photo NikVesti

The demining process of the Mykolaiv region continues as planned, and the desired indicators are determined by state bodies every year. The pace mainly depends on the number of units involved and the availability of mechanized equipment. But these indicators can change, so the regional government does not undertake to provide any forecasts regarding the terms. First of all, sappers and equipment can be sent to more mined areas in other regions. Actually, that is why the sappers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not been working on the territory of Mykolaiv Oblast recently.

However, this process continues and today, thanks to the work of many sappers, it was possible to survey almost half of all potentially mined territories of the region, some of which have been demined.

Yuliia Boichenko, NikVesti