Ukraine Update
Clearing the Path to Recovery
In the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has become the most heavily mined country in the world. Yet amid destruction, daily life continues. Thanks to the generosity of the HALO community, it’s becoming safer, step by step.
The Situation on the Ground
Daily life in Ukraine is still marked by uncertainty. Power outages are common, and many families go hours without heat or electricity. Air raid sirens interrupt school lessons and family meals. For millions of people who have returned to their communities, the threat of landmines remains a constant concern—hidden in fields, along roads, near homes.
At the same time, there is determination. Farmers are preparing land. Children are back in classrooms. Families are rebuilding what they can. Across these challenges, deminers are working every day to make land safe—so that recovery isn’t just possible, it’s already happening.
Impact Snapshot
Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, HALO has:
Cleared more than 2,175 acres of land—equivalent to 1,232 soccer fields.
Reached more than 382,000 people with life-saving explosive ordnance risk education.
Identified 42,700 explosive devices, including landmines and cluster munitions, which were safely destroyed.
From Contamination to Cultivation
HALO Ukraine handed over more than 100 acres of land in the Kharkiv Oblast to the local communities. The cleared lands include agricultural fields, pastures, and forests, where residents can now safely return for farming, grazing, or foraging.
Ukraine’s farmland has long been central to both the national economy and global food supply. But since the war began, large swathes of land have been left abandoned—some because of direct contamination, others because of fear.
From November 2024 to April 2025, HALO cleared 618 acres of hazardous land, including more than 205 acres of agricultural land, allowing safe cultivation to resume. In Kherson oblast, a farming cooperative that was cleared of landmines and explosives resumed wheat and sunflower production in March, employing 47 seasonal workers from the local community.
To better understand why some farmland remains uncultivated even after clearance, HALO launched the AgriLand Status Assessment in October 2024 in Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv oblasts. Early findings suggest that fear of explosive ordnance is a major factor keeping farmers from returning to their land, even in areas where contamination hasn't been confirmed.
Educating to Save Lives
Between November and April, HALO delivered 9,302 explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) sessions, reaching 76,094 people, including 34,411 children. In frontline areas, teams shifted from large gatherings to household-based outreach to minimize risk, and a new digital campaign launched in February reached an estimated 1.1 million people via social media.
New efforts also included a Ukrainian Sign Language translation of HALO’s online safety course, and integration of Conflict Preparedness and Protection (CPP) tools to help families respond to sudden shelling or evacuation scenarios.
Svitlana, EORE Deputy Team Commander, helps to run an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) day at Mykolaiv Gymnasium №52 for students, teachers, and family members.
Advancing with Innovation
HALO Ukraine is also piloting new technologies to make clearance more efficient. Supported by Amazon Web Services, HALO is applying AI to drone imagery to analyze explosive contamination, with field validation completed in April and integration underway in Kharkiv.
In Mykolaiv oblast, HALO is conducting trials using drone-mounted magnetometers, which are devices that detect buried metal by measuring changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. This impressive technology makes it possible to help find landmines without needing to walk over dangerous ground. They've already identified 17 explosives. HALO is also working with RoverTech, a Ukrainian company, to pilot a lightweight demining machine known as the ‘Zmiy’ (Snake) flail—supporting Ukraine’s push to use homegrown solutions.
HALO Ukraine Non-Technical Survey Team Commander Anastasiia demonstrates how HALO uses drones to do a aerial survey of farmlands in Mykolaiv.
Local Teams Leading the Way
As of June 2025, HALO employs 1,581 staff across Ukraine, 30% of whom are women. The team also includes 75 people with disabilities (up from just 14 in 2023) and a growing number of veterans trained in drone and imagery analysis roles.
"The safety of all the country is the first priority for me now."
That’s what Viktoria, a deminer with HALO Ukraine, shared when asked why she chose to take on one of the country’s most dangerous jobs.
Our family is all about public catering, and my big dream was always to become a chef in my own restaurant. With HALO, though, I realized that demining is actually much more important these days.
Volodymyr’s Story: A Second Chance
Volodymyr, 36, is a veteran and the force behind a horse sanctuary from Borodyanka, a town occupied in the early months of the war. After losing his brother in combat, he found healing through caring for horses, building a small sanctuary for more than ten rescued animals and inviting local children to connect with them as a form of emotional recovery.
“The children who visit this place made us these paintings. We decided that they would look better here than on dusty shelves.”
But when Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022, his stables were burned down. When the region was liberated, he returned to ruins: destroyed buildings and land contaminated with deadly explosives and abandoned munitions.
With his military experience and deep knowledge of the terrain, Volodymyr assisted HALO deminers with key information. HALO has since cleared the land where Volodymyr used to graze his horses and grow their feed, along with surrounding plots, making the area safe again. Today, Volodymyr is back on the land with his horses, offering a place of healing for the community once again.
You Made This Possible
Thanks to your continued support, families are returning home. Farmers are planting again. Children are finding safe ground to grow and learn.
Every mine cleared is one less danger in the lives of Ukrainians trying to rebuild.
Every donation helps—step by step, family by family.
