Mine explosion injures farmer in Kherson Oblast

A farmer was wounded in an explosion caused by a Russian landmine while cultivating a field in the village of Nova Kamianka, the Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported on Aug. 31.

The 62-year-old tractor driver received injuries to his face, body, and hands, according to the report. The victim is receiving medical assistance in a local hospital.

“About 87% of the fields in Kherson Oblast are still littered with Russian explosives. Sappers should work there before you,” the regional authorities said.

Nova Kamianka is located on the west bank of the Dnipro River, around 130 kilometers northeast of the regional capital, Kherson.

The large-scale mining of Ukrainian land makes it difficult and highly dangerous for local farmers to grow crops and harvest, risking the country’s vital agricultural industry.

On Aug. 29, a mine explosion killed a farmer in Kherson Oblast’s village of Novopetrivka.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on March 1 that nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory had been mined since February last year.

The State Emergency Service earlier reported that after the end of the war, Ukraine would need at least 10 years to demine its territory.

‘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…

The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima