Over a quarter of Ukraine’s territory requires demining, says President Zelenskyy
Demining ‘must be accomplished not in decades, but in years’, says the Ukrainian President (Photo:Office of the President)
174,000 square kilometers of Ukraine are dangerous due to mines and ammunition, and the state needs help and equipment to solve this problem, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Aug. 12.
"As of today, 174,000 square kilometers of our country are dangerous due to mines and unexploded ordnance. Every day, our specialists discover hundreds of explosive items," Zelenskyy stated.
Ukraine needs more vehicles and special drones for demining to improve safety for citizens, he stressed.
"Ukraine also needs equipment from partners, and it is very important to create a production base in Ukraine so that we can clear our land of Russian mines. And this task must be accomplished not in decades, but in years," Zelenskyy emphasized.
The head of state thanked all Ukrainian specialists involved in demining.
"They are really working on the ground," Zelenskyy concluded.
“They are demining fields, the territory of settlements, power lines, infrastructure facilities. Over the past day, 133 pyrotechnic teams were working across the country. Most of them were in Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk oblasts. I thank you - each and every one of you who is clearing the Ukrainian land of traces of Russian terror.”
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 221 people have been killed by mines and other explosive devices, and approximately 450 others have been injured, State Emergency Service spokesman Oleksandr Khorunzhyi reported on July 19.
Ukraine will receive over $244 million from international partners for humanitarian demining. First Vice PM and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko announced on July 25.
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