«A lot depends on the forces and means»: sappers have already examined more than a third of the potentially mined lands of the Mykolaiv region

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

As of November 2024, sappers surveyed 320,000 potentially mined hectares of the Mykolaiv region, of which 23,800 hectares have been demined.

This is stated in the article NikVesti «Let's not mislead». Who will demine the Mykolaiv region and when?».

Currently, another 18,400 hectares of contaminated territories need to be demined, but this figure may change, as the survey process is still ongoing.

Since the beginning of the great war, more than 30% of the region was considered to be potentially mined territories. 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.

Advertising

However, it is difficult to answer when it will be possible to exchange the entire Mykolaiv region, said the deputy head of the Mykolaiv RMA, Heorhii Reshetilov.

«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.

How is the demining of the Mykolaiv region going on?

At the beginning of 2024, Ukraine updated the country's priority demining plan. According to him, it was decided to demine more than 512 thousand hectares of fields as a priority, of which 44 thousand hectares are in the Mykolaiv region.

As of December 2023, 30% of the territory of the Mykolaiv region was mined. In total, it is 754 thousand hectares of land.

At the same time, they are working on demining in the region. For example, as of October 2023, 13 thousand 40 hectares, including 9 thousand 25 hectares of agricultural land, have been demined in the Mykolaiv region.

Dmytro Komarov, the author of the «World Inside Out.Ukraine» project, visited the mined territories of Mykolaiv Oblast and showed the work of local sappers. NikVesti also told about a farmer from Kyselivka who is trying to demine his fields on his own.

About 30,000-35,000 hectares of land remain mined in the Bashtanka district of the Mykolaiv region, part of which was under occupation. And in the village of Maksymivka of the Pervomaisk community of the Mykolaiv region, locals live with an unexploded shell under the foundation of the house.

In general, the demining situation in Maksymivka is currently critical. A year after liberation from the Russian occupiers, the village was demined by only 40%.

Read also articles by NikVesti:

• What to do if you find a mine: instructions from rescuers.
• We didn't wait for them to do it for us: how Nibulon demined 98% of its fields in Mykolaiv region in just one year.