United Nations reports that this Donbas region is becoming one of the most mined areas in the world, Washington Post reports.
Anti-vehicle mines, in particular, kill more people here than anywhere else in the world, researchers say — surpassing victims in Syria, Yemen or battlefields across Africa, according to WP.
“Nobody knows how big the problem is,” said Henry Leach, the head of the Danish Demining Group’s program in Ukraine. “We just know it’s big.”
Land mines, booby traps and unexploded ordnance are sown across tens of thousands of acres — much of it off-limits because the fighting is still going on and because of obstructions raised by officials.
Read alsoBritish NGO contributes to humanitarian demining in Donbas
Deaths of three Ukrainian soldiers from a land mine blast here last year put the area on the radar of the Danish Demining Group. Its manpower is drawn from the local population — supervisors say risks are manageable and training takes just a few weeks. In the Donbas twilight zone, this job is attractive. Pay is decent, the task empowering. This site is expected to be cleared within a year.