It will take at least a decade to completely clear Ukrainian land of mines. Ukraine: Sappers will have to deal with millions of unexploded bombs Peace and Security
Ukraine approaches the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion with many problems; one of the most significant of them is the contamination of a huge part of the country with mines and unexploded ordnance. According to experts, even if the war ends in the very near future, it will take at least a decade to completely clear Ukrainian land.
“Working in Ukraine made me realize that everything I had done before was a rehearsal,” says Paul Haslop, a mine clearance specialist with 30 years of experience working in a variety of hot spots around the world. Haslop is part of a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) mission that is clearing Ukrainian territory of mines and unexploded ordnance.
So that interlocutors can assess the scale of the problem, Haslop provides the following calculations: during any armed conflict, about 10 percent of all ammunition used by the opposing sides does not work. In Ukraine, according to experts, up to 30 thousand missiles and shells are used daily, that is, about three thousand of them do not work. If the conflict lasts a thousand days (just under three years), deminers will sooner or later have to deal with three million unexploded bombs.
The process of clearing an area of mines and unexploded ordnance often takes decades and requires significant investment. The total cost of demining in Ukraine is expected to be about $35 billion.
“With the necessary resources and appropriate commitments from the international community, and possibly within “Similar to the Marshall Plan, by 2028 we will be able to help Ukraine eliminate 75 percent of the economic consequences of the conflict,” adds Heslop.
To speed up the mine clearance process, the specialist emphasizes, along traditional methods will require the use of innovations such as satellite imagery and ground and aerial drones. According to him, it is necessary to make significant investments in the training of sappers and their equipment, as well as to attract international financial institutions to projects so that Ukrainian farms and energy companies can borrow money to clear the territories.
The liberation of the territory of Ukraine from dangerous remnants of war will lead to a decrease in global food prices, which is of interest to all countries of the world.