Through offensives, withdrawals and occupations, the Russian invader left behind an arsenal of antipersonnel mines, entrapping large areas of Ukrainian territory. A practice, condemned by international law, which represents a serious threat to populations, all the more acute as it promises to last for several decades.
In response, the Ukrainian government posted a video on social media on Thursday to raise awareness of the danger among its fellow citizens.
“The rule of three ‘nos'”
We see a walker walking in the woods and warning a mine. Maintaining his composure, he carefully walks away and dials the number dedicated to demining: 101. “Stay away! Don’t touch! Don’t panic! ‘Rule of Three’ No’ is the main message,” summarize the tweet. accompanying the illustration.
250,000 km2 infested by Russian mines
This educational film posted online by Ukraine’s Ministry of Emergency Services directly echoes comments made last Saturday by Prime Minister Denys Chmyhal to the South Korean news agency Yonhap. He described his country as the “biggest minefield in the world.”
“It is currently the largest minefield in the world. It not only makes it difficult for people to move, but also causes huge disruption to agriculture, which is one of our main industries,” he said. In fact, he declared her.
The head of the Ukrainian government even gave a more precise estimate of the trapped area: 250,000 km2, a mined area that exceeds the area of the Korean peninsula as a whole (221,000 km2 according to the Yonhap count), of Romania (238,000 km2), and even the United Kingdom (244,000 km2).
“At least 50 years” of mine clearance expected
The locals won’t be spared such contamination by these death machines any time soon. Quoted here by The world, Perrine Benoist, director of Handicap International’s Armed Violence Reduction Department, already assessed AFP in April at “at least 50 years” the expected duration of demining in Ukraine. “We are still demining in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, fifty or sixty years later,” she added.
A finding that refers to this explanation given by Frédéric Joly, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in France, to BFMTV.com a few days ago: “Mining is done on a massive scale, demining is mine.” for me”.
The same article replayed the dark agenda revealed by Denys Marchuk, vice-president of the Agrarian Council of Ukraine: “One day of war leads to a month-long demining effort in certain territories.” The challenge is all the greater since, at the outbreak of hostilities, Ukraine had still not recovered from mines laid by separatists in 2014.
26.5 million Russian mines
The 11 months of war that it has gone through since the invasion of Russia on February 24 have thus aggravated an already alarming situation. And if Ukraine is so inevitably gangrene today, it is because of the cynicism and firepower of the Russians in this field, judging by the report of the Observatory of mines published last November and recounted here by The world.
On the one hand, the document ensures that the Russians have so far used seven models of antipersonnel mines against the nation they are attacking, six fragmentation and one explosion. On the other hand, the Landmine Observatory points out that with 26.5 million mines, Russia has the largest arsenal in the world.
Assistance from the international community
These figures give an especially dramatic resonance to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s regular appeals to the international community, in the form of a plea for their help in this battle to clear mines that has just begun.
Your partners are aware of the problems. Already in August, the Americans promised the payment of 89 million dollars to their ally to help him face this threat. On December 30, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace promised to provide 1,000 metal detectors for this purpose and 100 anti-explosion kits.
As full as these deliveries may seem, their senders will undoubtedly have to renew them given the extension of the ground to be covered and the prolongation of a conflict that does not seem about to end.
Meanwhile, the wave caused by the Russian mines in the Ukrainian population is already devastating. According to the Landmine Monitor report, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded 277 Ukrainian civilian casualties between February 24 and mid-September 2022.
Source: BFM TV
