An Action Plan for demining agricultural land for the sowing campaign has been approved. This was announced by Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov following a regular meeting of the National Mine Action Authority held at the Ministry of Defense with the participation of First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko and First Deputy Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk.
“Today, important decisions have been made to ensure that peaceful agricultural machinery is brought to our fields. We are doing everything possible to conduct spring field work in our country wherever there are appropriate conditions. We have approved an Action Plan for demining agricultural land. The Ukrainian land in the areas most affected by the hostilities will give yield and feed people around the world. We are making fields and other land safe for farmers to work on,†said Oleksii Reznikov.
According to the Minister of Defense, the Ministry will continue to ensure coordination, management and interaction between the authorities, international partners and mine action operators. This will take place in the course of implementing measures to clear the territories of Ukraine of explosive ordnance and other tasks to reduce risks to the population and ensure socio-economic development of the territories affected by Russian aggression.
The meeting discussed the simplified procedure for obtaining a permit on carrying out explosives operations during demining and using explosive materials by mine action operators for the period of martial law.
In addition, the procedures for recognizing foreign documents on the qualification of demining specialists and their compliance with national requirements have been elaborated.
It is envisaged that survey and demining activities will first be carried out in the regions where the problem of contamination is most urgent and the clearing of agricultural land is most economically feasible.
According to preliminary estimates, about 470,000 hectares of agricultural land in nine regions of Ukraine (Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, and Cherkasy) need to be surveyed and, if necessary, demined.
