Ukraine called for more international support in clearing large parts of its territory of mines and other explosives during a donor conference in Croatia on Wednesday.
“Russian mines and (unexploded) shells in Ukraine are a problem that we must solve together,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal, addressing the conference in Zagreb via video link.
He pointed out that about six million people have been directly exposed to the risk of mines as a result of a large-scale mining campaign in combat zones since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to Kiev’s figures, about 30 percent of Ukrainian territory is littered with mines .
Unless the demining process is accelerated, “it will take several decades to rid Ukraine of mines,” Shmihal said.
Dozens of countries and organizations have so far pledged a total of $300 million (282 million euros) to Ukraine for demining, which according to the head of the Ukrainian government is far less than what is needed for those very expensive operations.
At the same time, the British Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that Ukraine would receive more than 100 million pounds (115 million euros) in new support, including mine clearance systems, from the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU, which is managed by the United Kingdom).
Ukraine is now the most heavily mined country in the world and that is the “biggest obstacle” to the counter-offensive, the British ministry said in a statement.
At the end of September, Switzerland announced that it would spend 100 million francs (103 million euros) on demining in Ukraine in the period 2024-2027.
