Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin says that over 1,600 Ukrainians have been killed or injured since 2014 when Russia unleashed aggression against Ukraine.
"A part of Ukrainian soil occupied by Russia [is] becoming one of the worst contaminated lands in the world," Klimkin wrote on Twitter on April 4 on the occasion of International Mine Awareness Day.
In total, two million Ukrainians are affected by mines in Donbas, he said.
According to UNICEF Ukraine, 1,833 people were killed or injured from 2014 to 2017 due to mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) related incidents.
Today is International Mine Awareness Day. In #Ukraine at least 11 children and 113 adults were injured or killed in mine/ERW related incidents in 2017 #IMAD2018#MineFreeUkraine#TogetherAgainstMinespic.twitter.com/zhRr9UOzS9
— UNICEF Ukraine (@UNICEF_UA) April 4, 2018
In 2017 alone, at least 11 children and 113 adults were injured or killed in mine/ERW related incidents in Ukraine, UNICEF Ukraine wrote on Twitter, citing data of Ukraine's Health Ministry on casualties among civilians in government-controlled areas of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
In 2016, their number were 13 children and 127 adults, while there were 14 children and 628 adults in 2015 and 26 children and 901 adults in 2014.
Recent studies from Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), and the 2017 Landmine Monitor paint a terrifying picture. Explosive weapons killed or injured 32,008 civilians in 2016 (out of 45,624 total victims), according to AOVA. The most recent Landmine Monitor recorded a dramatic increase in landmine and explosive remnants of war casualties over the past three years. Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine and Yemen are among the main countries affected.
