Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on television that nearly one-third of Ukraine, including liberated and occupied territories, remains mined as of March 1.
According to Klymenko, the longer the Russian occupation of certain territory lasts, the harder it is to demine it, as it most likely means that more hidden mines have been left behind.
After the Ukrainian forces liberated part of the southern Ukrainian Kherson Oblast in November, the oblast's governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said that Russian troops had mined "nearly everything" in Kherson city.
As of Dec. 11, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service has located and removed more than 300,000 explosive devices since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022. They additionally stated that after the war, Ukraine would need at least 10 years to demine its territories.
Also in December, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine was "the largest minefield in the world."
Shmyhal also said on Feb. 11 that Ukraine would create a centralized demining hub tasked to process information on the needs for demining provided by ministries, regional administrations, partner countries, and international organizations.
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