The Power Within: The Kyiv Independent’s first-ever magazine. Be among the first to get it.

pre-order now
Skip to content
Edit post

Guardian: Ukraine 'most heavily mined country in the world,' Defense Minister says

by Abbey Fenbert August 14, 2023 7:09 AM 2 min read
A Ukrainian sapper inspects the shoreline during the demining of a Dnipro river in Zaporizhzhia on Aug. 3, 2023. (Photo by Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Ukraine has become the world's most heavily mined nation, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told the Guardian in an interview on Aug. 13.

Reznikov urged allies to speed up their efforts to aid Ukraine's demining project.

“Today, Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world," Reznikov said. "Hundreds of kilometres of minefields, millions of explosive devices, in some parts of the frontline up to five mines per square meter."

The concentration of mines in Russian-occupied regions has slowed Ukraine's counteroffensive, limiting territorial gains in the east and south.

At the July 15 Ramstein summit in Germany, Lithuania announced a plan to create a demining coalition for Ukraine. The coalition would help consolidate aid in the form of training and mine-clearing equipment.

Reznikov called this "an important step," but said more assistance is critical.

“It is also vitally necessary to expand and expedite the training of sappers. It should be fast and systematic. Sappers are needed here and now," Reznikov said.

Pete Smith, Ukraine program manager for the NGO Halo, which works to clear mines in conflict zones, told the Guardian that the density of minefields in Ukraine was "unrecognizable in modern history."

‘Every time feels like your last’: How Ukrainian sappers work in gray zones near Russian-occupied Kreminna
Donetsk Oblast – At an unusually nice house on a street with rows of modest cottages, Ukraine’s front-line sappers spend their days indoors waiting for their daunting nightly missions– venturing out into “gray zones” laying mines sometimes as close as 100 meters from the nearest Russian trench. “Th…

News Feed

5:30 AM

Trump says he may meet Putin 'shortly' after May Middle East visit.

Despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Trump and Putin have yet to have direct contact, communicating only through their officials. Trump's last in-person encounter with his Russian counterpart was during the 2018 Helsinki Summit during the U.S. president's first term.
8:08 PM

Ukrainians react to US proposal of recognizing Crimea as Russian.

The U.S. media outlet Axios reported on April 23 that the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's final proposal for ending the Russia-Ukraine war included the U.S. de jure recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and de facto recognizing its control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. We asked Kyiv residents for their reactions to the U.S. proposal.
7:21 PM  (Updated: )

Trump says 'nobody is asking' Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian.

"Nobody is asking (President Volodymyr) Zelensky to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory, but if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?" U.S. President Donald Trump wrote.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.