It is considered certain that the Russian army has mined very large areas in Ukraine. How many mines there are and where exactly they are located are the big unknowns. Bureaucracy makes the search difficult.
Complicated, bureaucratic processes make it difficult to dispose of the explosive devices distributed over a large area by the Russians. “I have never seen so many demining specialists in one place who were unable to work. It simply takes too long for them to receive their permits,” says the employee of a Western non-governmental organization (NGO) during a conversation in Kiev. She would like to remain anonymous. On the one hand, the problem of mines in Ukraine receives a lot of attention; On the other hand, there are obviously also great difficulties in tackling this problem effectively.
It’s about complicated processes in issuing work permits to Western demining NGOs, it’s about conflicts of interest between Ukrainian authorities, about a growing number of organizations and companies that want to clear mines and about a lack of information about the real size of the problem. The fact that the situation is so complicated has, on the one hand, to do with the war, which makes planning for orderly and effective mine clearance more difficult. On the other hand, with more and more people involved in this field.
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Organizational problems in demining in Ukraine
While the Ukrainian military, the Ukrainian NGO Ukrainian Deminers Association and very few Western NGOs such as Halo Trust, Fondation suisse de déminage (FSD) and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) were active before the Russian full-scale invasion, there are now 17 national and international actors involved Game. Their use is urgently needed; at least 264 civilians have died due to mines so far. But so far it has not been possible to establish a systematic demining process.
Just in time for the 21st conference on the ban on anti-personnel mines in Geneva this week, the Norwegian non-governmental organization Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) presented a comprehensive report on demining around the world, in which Ukraine gave by far the most space. NPA has also been operating in Ukraine since this year. According to their report, the main problems in demining in the country can be divided into several areas: military, bureaucratic, technical, logistical.
- The Russian army is using at least 13 different anti-personnel mines in Ukraine. These include newly developed mines, such as the POM-3 with a seismic trigger and a timer. These mines are particularly difficult to clear.
- The Russian and Ukrainian armed forces use at least 13 different anti-vehicle mines. Although Ukraine is clearing its own mines as far as possible, it is reticent to provide information about mine laying.
- When retreating and defending themselves, the Russian army laid a very large number of mines, sometimes haphazardly, which made clearing them more difficult.
- Seven different authorities and institutions in Ukraine are involved in mine clearance. NPA writes: “This complicated structure will almost certainly lead to overlapping responsibilities and cause confusion in the field of demining.”
- There are no reliable estimates of mined areas and the resulting need for financial, material and personnel assistance.
- Some civilians clear mines themselves. Especially in agriculture, many people lend a hand themselves or sometimes commission specialists who are not officially registered. Undocumented evictions distort the overall picture.
- Licensed deminers are not allowed to transport or store their finds. The finds are reported to state authorities, who have to carry out the evacuation. According to the NPA, the problem of transport and storage is overwhelming government authorities.
Although seven agencies and institutions are involved in the management of demining, the Ministry of Defense has the upper hand under martial law. But this ministry only covers one process of accreditation of an NGO. Others, such as the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Justice, require certificates for various areas of activity of organizations and companies.
The entire occupied area is considered a risk area
In discussions with several NGOs such as Halo Trust, DRC, UDA, all respondents say that obtaining activity permits is a “complex process,” “bureaucratic.” However, Michael Newton, head of Halo’s Ukraine program, emphasizes: “The Ukrainian government is doing everything possible under martial law circumstances to help with these accreditation processes.”
Once the bureaucracy has been overcome, the question arises as to where exactly it needs to be cleared. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal speaks of an estimated 174,000 square kilometers that need to be examined for mines. This is the area that Russia occupied since 2014 and then between February and March 2023. Mines, unexploded projectiles and other dangerous ammunition residues are not everywhere. But it could be dangerous everywhere, the risk must be checked everywhere.
This costs time and money: the World Bank estimates that more than 37 billion dollars will be needed for mine clearance in all affected Ukrainian areas. Germany has increased its support in this area in Ukraine to around 20 million euros this year, in 2022 it was 6.3 million euros and in the years 2017 to 2021 a total of 8.5 million, the Foreign Office said upon request.
Drones and AI help identify dangerous areas
“The most important thing is to first identify where you really need to clear,” explains Newton. But the area is not the real problem, adds the former military pilot, who has been working on demining for Halo around the world for more than ten years. “It is the complexity of the task in Ukraine. We need traditional methods and innovative techniques here.” Drones are therefore increasingly being used to identify minefields.
And artificial intelligence. Data is used to prioritize: which area needs to be examined first (depending on the number of residents, industrial and agricultural importance or civil infrastructure such as hospitals), what changes have been made to the soil structure, how long an area has been occupied – data analysts like Palantir is working with Ukrainian authorities and creating maps for mine clearance operations. In the end, people almost always have to dig up and defuse the dangerous legacy. That is why by far the most important task of Western demining NGOs in Ukraine in particular is the training of deminers.
Goal: clear 80 percent in ten years
Halo currently has 1,100 employees in Ukraine – the largest NGO in this field in the country. 45 of them are not Ukrainian citizens. Before the full invasion, a total of 430 deminers worked for Halo in the country. Other organizations and companies are also training and hiring more staff.
According to Ukraine’s own information, it wants to clear 80 percent of potentially mined areas within ten years. Before the conference in Geneva, Kiev therefore submitted a proposal to complete the implementation of the corresponding agreement on the destruction of anti-personnel mines in mined areas for ten years. Russia has thwarted the original plan to be mine-free by December 1, 2023 with its war. By Viktor Funk with Lisa Martina Klein
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