Mine clearance in Ukraine will be comparable to Europe in 1945, says UN
“We have to face in Ukraine a situation similar to that of Europe at the end of the Second World War”warned the United Nations Mine Action Service (Unmas) on Wednesday.
It will take some 300 million dollars (274 million euros) a year for five years to demine the Ukrainian territory, assured its program manager, Paul Heslop, during a press conference in Geneva, recalling that he had fifteen years for the continent to overcome the problem posed by explosive devices.
The UN is working on a demining program for Ukraine that could enable the country to revive its economy. “We can, over the next three to five years, take care of 75 to 80% of the problem at the root of the economic difficulties”, explained Mr. Heslop. To do this, “we really need a commitment from the international community of 200/300 million per year over the next five years”he specified.
Such a program “would allow Ukraine to regain its place as the breadbasket of the world and lower food prices for the whole world”summed up the UN official.
So far only $35 million has been received this year to fund this program. Some 30% of Ukrainian territory is contaminated, according to figures from kyiv taken up by several NGOs.
If the belligerents, who have plethoric stocks, both use them, the Russians are the first users of these devices, some of which are prohibited by international law, according to experts. We find, in the category of conventional weapons, anti-vehicle mines, and, in the category prohibited by international law, anti-personnel mines, prohibited by the Ottawa Convention of 1997, of which Ukraine is a party, but not the Russia.
In addition to anti-personnel mines and anti-tank mines, which do not distinguish between a military vehicle and an agricultural tractor, cluster munitions are also widely used. Prohibited by the Oslo Convention of 2008 (which neither Moscow nor Kiev have signed), these devices do not explode in 15 to 30% of cases and thus constitute a long-term threat.