Demining Ukraine: from drones to risking it with a rake
- Viktoria Shynkar, a deminer with HALO Trust, recovered 243 TM-62 anti-tank mines in Mykolaiv region amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Ihor Kniazev, a farmer from Kharkiv Oblast, reported that his land is contaminated with landmines, making farming difficult in previously occupied areas.
- Ukraine's Agriculture Minister, Vitaliy Koval, stated that grain production has dropped from 84 million tons in 2021 to only 24 million tons due to the conflict and landmines.
- Shynkar emphasized the severe impact of landmines on agriculture, stating that there's a lot of contamination and farmers can't work or grow crops.
35 Articles
35 Articles


'Ukraine is biggest landmine challenge since World War II,' says head of world’s largest demining organization
Russia's full-scale invasion may have turned Ukraine into the world's largest minefield. As of March 2025, Ukraine’s mine-affected land spans an estimated 139,000 square kilometers — or 23% of its territory — covering more ground than all of Greece and posing an immense threat to civilian life and recovery efforts.
Ukraine’s Contaminated Land: Clearing Landmines With Rakes, Tractors and Drones - bellingcat
This story was produced in partnership with Agence France-Presse (AFP). In a field near the small town of Bezymenne in southern Ukraine, Viktoria Shynkar carefully picks out a narrow path through the overgrown grass in front of her. This small corridor of farmland in Mykolaiv Oblast will be checked for the presence of landmines and explosive ordnance. If clear, Shynkar – a 36-year-old who worked as a hairdresser before Russia’s full-scale inva…

Demining Ukraine: from drones to risking it with a rake
There were so many mines on Larisa Sysenko's small farm in Kamyanka in eastern Ukraine after the Russians were pushed out that she and her husband Viktor started demining it themselves -- with rakes.
Ukraine's 63rd Independent Mechanized Brigade released a video showing a battlefield laced with fiber optic drone cabling.
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