Shmyhal: "World's largest minefield" created in Ukraine as result of Russian invasion

Some 250,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land – nearly 40% of all country’s territory – have been mined since Russia's full-scale invasion last year, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in an interview with the South Korean news agency Yonhap. on Dec. 8.

“It's currently the largest minefield in the world,” Shmyhal said. According to the prime minister, the area of mined territory is larger than the entire Korean Peninsula, Romania, and almost the size of Great Britain.

The large-scale mining of Ukrainian land makes it difficult and highly dangerous for local farmers to grow crops and harvest, putting at risk the country’s one of the vital industries. During the summer harvest, several farmers died during in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions when their tractors hit a landmine during fieldwork.

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

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The Kyiv Independent