Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 1,083 civilians have been injured by Russian antipersonnel mines in de-occupied territories. Of them, 333 have died and 750 have been injured. The most heavily contaminated liberated areas remain the Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions.
This was reported by representatives of the Main Directorate for Mine Action, Civil Protection, and Environmental Safety of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine during the fifth review conference (5RC) on the implementation of the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on Their Destruction, held in the Kingdom of Cambodia as part of the Siem Reap-Angkor summit.
The event was attended by representatives from 90 participating countries, 12 observer countries to the Ottawa Convention, and nearly 20 delegations from various international organizations.
The Ukrainian delegation provided the international community with detailed information on Russia’s crimes related to the use of antipersonnel mines against civilians.
The conference participants were also informed about attacks on humanitarian demining teams, which hinder the full implementation of mine action measures.
Additionally, information was shared about the steps taken to clear areas contaminated by Russian antipersonnel mines and the progress made in this field by the Ministry of Defense's units throughout 2024. During non-technical survey activities, 35,000 square kilometers of territory were marked as free from mine risks. This allowed for a reduction in the area of potentially contaminated land from 174,000 to 139,000 square kilometers.
