Over 156,000 hectares of land were demined in Ukraine in six months

Demining on the territory of the Mykolaiv region. Archive photo of NikVesti

Over the past six months, sappers surveyed and cleared 156,600 hectares of agricultural land in the frontline regions of Ukraine.

This was reported by Mykolaiv RMA.

Most agricultural lands were surveyed in the south and east, namely:

• In the Kherson region — 146.3 thousand hectares (in June — 17.76 thousand hectares);
• In the Kharkiv region — 11.3 thousand hectares (in June — 4.55 thousand hectares);
• In the Mykolayiv region — 8.3 thousand hectares (in June — 1.67 thousand hectares).

In total, since the beginning of the year, more than 171.7 thousand hectares of agricultural land have been surveyed.

According to the Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yuliia Svyrydenko, special equipment helps demining Ukrainian fields. At the beginning of last year, sappers did not have a single such machine, now there are 82 of them. Some of them help demining the Mykolaiv Oblast.

«We will continue to increase their number,» said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

How is the demining of the Mykolaiv Oblast going on?

Ukraine recently updated the country's priority demining plan. According to it, more than 512,000 hectares of agricultural land are subject to priority demining, of which 44,000 hectares are in Mykolaiv Oblast.

As of December 2023, 30% of the territory of the Mykolaiv region has been 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 Mykolayiv region.

Dmytro Komarov, the author of the «World Inside Out.Ukraine» project, visited the mined territories of the Mykolaiv region 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 Bashtan 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 the article NikVesti «Decades are needed: How the demining process of the Mykolaiv region continues.»

It is known that the company «Demining of Ukraine» has developed a device capable of demining the Mykolaiv region for three months.

Read also the article NikVesti «Self-demining: why farmers of Mykolaiv region and Kherson region have to survey their lands themselves».