Landmines in the Ukraine war have killed hundreds of people

It is estimated that landmines have contaminated 174,000 square kilometres of Ukraine’s enormous territory.

It covers a wider geographic area than both of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland put together.

Warning signs periodically surface adjacent to the bleak, lifeless fields that were formerly front lines in the war-torn Kharkiv region.

Even less common is the sight of demining personnel scanning small, taped-off sections with metal detectors. a superficial scrape, literally.

In comparison to other areas of Ukraine, the Kharkiv region has seen the most landmine discoveries.

Over the past year, this region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border has been both seized and liberated.

On February 24, 2022, Russia began a full-scale assault of the Kharkiv region, seizing large portions of land while also attempting to take control of Kharkiv itself.

They would lose the conflict for the second-largest city in Ukraine by May. They would be caught off guard by a Ukrainian counteroffensive by September.

Landmines were used by the Russians to slow down the Ukrainians and defend their positions. A deadly footprint was left behind after hastily fleeing.

Six anti-personnel mines have already been discovered by Oleksandr Romanents’ team in the small village of Balakliya, on a plot of land near to an apartment tower. They had already found 200 or so close.

Every morning, my family calls to remind me to walk carefully, he claims. “Last year, one of our guys lost a foot.”

Another member of his crew was hurt by a mine the day after we spoke.

According to authorities, there have been at least 27 fatalities and 118 more injuries in the Kharkiv region alone since September.

In the region, more than 55,000 explosives have been discovered.

Although Oleksandr and other deminers are hailed as “heroes” by the local government, their efforts are profoundly frustrated by the scope of the issue.

The most prevalent in the region, so-called “butterfly mines,” are their target prey. They are distributed from a rocket, are just three to four inches broad, and are fashioned like propellers.

International law forbids them because of the manner they can indiscriminately harm and kill civilians.

They have nevertheless been employed in this conflict.

Serhiy used a tiny crane to help a friend load his car, barely noticing the surrounding apricot tree.

He moved closer to it, only to find himself tumbling backwards as a result of an explosion.

From his hospital bed in nearby Izyum, he remembers, “I thought maybe a tyre had blown up.”

Then I noticed I was missing toes, the sole was broken, and there was gushing on my foot.

Serhiy claims that the battle also completely wrecked his house.

“I used to be healthy, able to drive my car, and able to walk on both feet.

“I lost my house and my foot in an instant.”

Yuriy Kuznetsov, a qualified trauma surgeon, is caring for Serhiy. A large-framed man with a tired-yet-determined face.

He continued to work during Russia’s occupation the previous year and was the lone remaining physician at the hospital in Izyum. He claims that he attends to landmine victims every week.

“Unfortunately, an encounter with unknown explosives ends tragically in most cases,” he says.

The worst outcome isn’t losing a limb or suffering other kinds of damage. For instance, two of our patients found a mine last week. One is present; the other passed away.

The hospital run by Yuriy has lost all of its wings. Along the passageway, windows are missing, and mine signs surround the structures.

“Like everyone else, I cared a lot about material things in life before the war,” says Yuriy.

“Now we see how temporary everything is. What counts are health and peace.

Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister of Ukraine, reported last week that 226 people had died as a result of 724 individuals being blown up by Russian mines since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February of last year.

Izyum and its surroundings are among the areas that have been mined the most, yet the situation there is murky.

Both parties are said to have used unlawful antipersonnel mines in this situation by Human Rights Watch. In its response, Kiev claimed that in defending itself, Ukraine had adhered to international law.

The World Bank, which offers low-interest loans to nations in need of money, estimates that demining Ukraine will cost $37.4 billion (£30 billion).

Kyiv is attempting to persuade as many nations as it can to provide a hand so that, in its words, “it doesn’t take decades.”

It’s a strategy that will call for optimism given how it’s spent the last 70 years cleaning World War Two mines.