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PM Shmyhal: 6 million people threatened by mines in Ukraine

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PM Shmyhal: 6 million people threatened by mines in Ukraine
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Kyiv on Aug. 14, 2023. (Photo by Thomas Imo via Getty Images)

Around 6 million people are threatened by mines in Ukraine and thousands may be killed or injured unless appropriate steps are taken, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said, Ukrinform reported on Oct. 9.

"So far, around 250 people have been killed by landmines in Ukraine, and over 500 have been injured or maimed," the prime minister said during the opening ceremony of 15 mobile safety classes for children.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on March 1 that nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory had been mined since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Ukraine's Education Ministry announced in August that it would introduce mine safety courses for Ukrainian schoolchildren as a mandatory part of the curriculum.

Russia is covering Ukraine with landmines. Clearing them will be extremely difficult
In March 2022 right after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, a cell phone video apparently taken by a Russian soldier captured two “Zemledeliye” mobile mine-laying systems thought to be stationed in Kharkiv Oblast. Positioned against a drab backdrop of what was once farmland, the “Zemledeli…
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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