Life in conditions of constant risks: how the demining of Snihurivka is going

The Snihurivka community became one of the symbols of cruelty and destruction caused by Russian aggression. It remains the most mined community of the Mykolaiv region.

NikVesti visited Snihurivka and found out how the residents of the community live in conditions of constant risks and asked rescuers of the State Emergency Service about their work.

Minesweepers do the dangerous work of clearing mines to make areas safe for people to live in. In Snihurivka territorial community, the use of mechanized machines for demining allows to speed up this process.

Serhii Kosylov, a deminer driver of the State Emergency Service, spoke about the principles of working with the MV-10 mechanical demining machine, which helps rescuers demine agricultural land near Snihurivka.

«After the car passes through the area, the sappers and I walk with metal detectors at a safe distance and check whether there are any explosive objects left. If we find it, we remove it or destroy it on the spot by detonation.»

Despite the risk of encountering an explosive device, life in the community continues. On the outskirts of Snihurivka, local residents graze cows. Next to the cattle are signs «Beware of mines» and scattered defused ammunition.

We will remind you that since the beginning of 2024, 17 people have been blown up by mines in the Mykolaiv region, 4 of them died. Last year, 2023, 17 people, including one child, died in the Mykolaiv Oblast due to the detonation of ammunition. According to the calculations of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU), there were a total of 57 cases of detonation of the civilian population by landmines last year.

NikVesti collected all the necessary information about the types of explosive devices and talked about the rules of behavior in mines in the material «What are mines and what to do if you find a suspicious object? Explainer.»

The largest number of accidents due to detonations of explosive objects in the Mykolaiv region occurred precisely in the territory of the Snihurivka community.

Previously, NikVesti visited the village of Yevhenivka, where they talked with brothers Igor and Oleksandr Viryovkin, who were blown up by landmines during the occupation of the village by the Russian military.

Also, on November 24, 2022, a mine detonation case was recorded in the de-occupied Snihurivka territorial community. As a result, there is a dead and injured among the employees of the State Emergency Service. Later, on December 15, 2022, in one of the villages of the community, a man found two anti-personnel mines left behind by the Russian military. The shells were detonated. A 26-year-old man died on the spot.

On April 22, 2022, in the town of Snihurivka, near the former mineral water plant, two residents of the community were blown up by an anti-personnel mine. Later, on September 20, 2023, a car carrying two men was blown up by a mine. One of them died on the spot, the second man was hospitalized.

On October 11, 2023, a mine exploded in a field near the town of Snihurivka. The driver was injured as a result of the explosion and is in the hospital. Also, on February 1, 2024 , four people were detonated by a mine near the village of Yevhenivka in the Mykolaiv region.

On March 5, 2024, a 38-year-old man blew himself up in the village of Bezimenne, Snihurivka community, Bashtanka district. In addition, in the Snihurivka region, the pyrotechnic group of the State Emergency Service demined the area where a cow was blown up by an explosive device.