Ukraine: four years on, four features from the field

Today, February 24, marks the fourth year of war in Ukraine. These past four years have seen Ukraine become the world’s most heavily mined country. Millions of explosives have been placed across not just battlefields, but also farmland, neighborhoods, and roads.

While HALO has worked in Ukraine for over a decade, the scale of the challenge faced by deminers has increased exponentially since 2022. But many brave men and women have worked hard to meet this challenge – with resilience, determination, and diligence. 

Since March 2022, deminers have cleared explosives from more than 4,000 acres of land. This means the equivalent of nearly 3,000 football fields are now safe for people to live, travel, and farm without fear.

Making this land safe has been no small task. To date, teams have removed nearly 59,000 explosive devices – with each individual device requiring a careful process of mapping, excavation, and safe handling.

In 2022, the Ukrainian government estimated that nearly 43 million acres of land – an area about as large as the state of Florida – was potentially awash with explosives. This meant it was too dangerous for anyone to risk using it for agriculture, infrastructure, or even returning to their homes.

HALO quickly mobilized expert teams to fly drones over impacted communities, analyze imagery from satellites, and see conditions on the ground. The data they gathered allowed the government to confirm that an area larger than the state of Massachusetts was safe for use.

This means that, on land where people were once afraid to step foot, families have the confidence to come back home and rebuild their lives. Parents send their children to school. Shopkeepers reopen their storefronts. Farmers get back in their fields to plant and harvest vital crops, which means Ukraine is one step closer to feeding the world again.

For families and communities living among landmines, knowledge saves lives. Risk education teaches children and adults alike what explosives look like, what to do if they encounter one, and who to tell so it can be removed safely. This is especially important for children, who often run, play, and explore outside, and may not be able to tell a device is dangerous when they encounter one. 

But after thousands of risk education sessions, nearly 400,000 people have been equipped with this critical information. On average, about 40% of people who receive risk education are children.

Ukraine’s minefields present particular challenges for deminers. One field can contain multiple types of explosives, as well as many different non-explosive metal objects. Ukrainian soil also contains a high mineral content. Each of these factors make handheld metal detectors less effective at locating buried landmines.

Despite these challenges, explosives still need to be found and destroyed. So, HALO teams are turning to technology. 

Versatile vehicles like skid steers sift soil, cut vegetation, and remove tripwires quickly over large stretches of land. They can be operated from a distance using a remote control, which means a human doesn’t have to be in the field. 

To map out areas where there might be explosives, teams typically need to gather information from local residents, observe the area from afar with binoculars, and use a compass to establish an explosive’s rough coordinates. Teams in Ukraine are making this process faster, safer and more accurate by using drones. These devices fly over an area, take pictures, and help specialists geolocate where explosive devices might be. 

Technology is rapidly increasing the pace of demining – which means less time until the day we see a mine-free Ukraine.

Oleksandr is an entrepreneur and a lifelong resident of Pechenihy, a settlement along the banks of the Siverskyi Donets River.

More than 80 years ago during World War II, his father helped liberate this land. Today, a swath of it now belongs to Oleksandr. With a deep love for the territory instilled in him, he has carefully looked after it for more than two decades. 

He has worked hard to develop tourism in the area – and it has paid off. Locals affectionately call the settlement “Golden Bay” for its shallow waters, sandy banks, and picturesque atmosphere.

But in 2022, fighting left the area heavily shelled and littered with dangerous explosives. The trees, which once provided shade for passersby and ready-to-climb branches for adventurous children, had been laced with grenades.

Deminers began clearing this area in late 2023. Today, it has been returned to the community for productive use. "Golden Bay" is once again safe for residents and tourists alike to walk, sunbathe, and let their children play without fear. They continue to rebuild, develop, and make plans for the future.

Oleksandr's story is one of the many transformations happening in Ukraine. Farmers are now back in their fields. Entire villages have come back to life. 

Even amidst ongoing fighting, the spirit of hope, revival, and resilience continue. And none of it is possible without your support.