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| A sign warning people of mines at a closed off beach, in Odesa, Ukraine |
Ukraine will need at least a decade to clear all the mines and explosives from its land and territorial waters once its war with Russia is over, an emergency services official said on Friday.
Ukraine has managed to clear 620 square kilometres of land that were littered with thousands of explosive devices, including 2,000 bombs dropped from the air, but nearly 300,000 square kilometres are still seen as โcontaminatedโ, the official said.
That is an area roughly half the size of Ukraineโs territory, and about as large as Italy.
โUp to 10 years, thatโs the optimistic figure. Because we donโt know whatโs happening on the territories where active combat is ongoing right now,โ Oleksandr Khorunzhiy, spokesperson for Ukraineโs State Emergency Service, said.
โJust imagine the number of bombs that have been dropped on us by the enemy,โ the official told a news conference.
The first priority is to demine infrastructure, residential areas and roads, but it will take longer to clear woods, rivers and the coastline, he said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what Moscow calls a โspecial military operationโ to demilitarise Ukraine and rid it of dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and its allies dismiss this as a baseless pretext to launch an unprovoked war of aggression.
