As many in Ukraine awoke on Sunday after a day of celebrating Russia’s retreat from Kherson, a team of 10 railway workers arrived in the small village of Posad-Pokrovske, for months one of the fiercest front lines of the conflict. Their task was to repair the tracks to Nikolaev. The route was blocked by tree branches and logs strewn along the road, placed there, they later discovered, by Ukrainian soldiers to signal hidden explosives ahead. They have cleared the barricade and gone less than 100 meters when they hit an anti-tank mine. One worker lost his legs and the others were taken to hospital.
This was not an isolated incident. Just a few days before, a family of four drove a car through a mine in liberated Novoraysk, injuring an 11-year-old child.
Before the Russians pulled out, Ukrainian officials warned that Moscow was trying to turn Kherson into a “city of death,” but now it appears Russian soldiers have turned the entire region into a minefield – potentially making it Ukraine’s most mined area and perhaps in the World.
The railway workers’ truck that was destroyed by a mine in Posad-Pokrovske. Photo: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian
“Because the Russian troops had planned the retreat, they had more time to mine and a good supply chain to plant all the explosive devices,” Timur Pistryukha, head of the Ukrainian Association of Deminers NGO, told the Guardian. “We cannot make predictions yet, as the clearance procedure has only just begun, but potentially the Kherson region could be the most mined region in the country, and unfortunately, Ukraine may soon rank first in the world in terms of casualties, caused by mines.’
Roads leading to Kherson, covered in war debris, are lined with long red cordons and signs indicating the presence of minefields every 10 meters.
Dozens of unexploded mines lie in piles, meters away from nearby checkpoints now under the control of Ukrainian forces. Meanwhile, in the village lanes, some unexploded devices are sticking out of the ground – waiting to be defused.
Dozens of open mines. Photo: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian
The work of demining the region could take months, if not years. Witnesses and military officers told the Guardian that the Russians had left mines and ropes everywhere.
“The Russians are mining everything they can,” said Alexander Valeryovich, a soldier based in Posad-Pokrovske who is helping to clear the area retaken from the Russians. “Roads, lands, bridges, houses, buildings. Everything. We find mines all the time. I have never seen anything like this before,” he said.
Destruction in the village of Posad-Pokrovske. Photo: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during his first address since liberation, called on Kherson residents “to be careful and not try to independently check buildings and objects left by the occupiers.”
Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion earlier this year, deminers faced a years-long effort to clear mines from eastern Ukraine. The country was ranked fifth in the world for civilian casualties caused by landmines and in the top three for landmine incidents.
An unexploded device is sticking out of the ground – waiting to be defused. Photo: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian
As heavy fighting continues in the south and east of the country, deminers are seeing more and more different types of devices deployed by Russian forces, including mini-butterflies called “petals” by Ukrainians: small plastic landmines that have become notorious around the globe for their ability to inflict casualties long after wars are over.
These mini PFM-1s look like toys and are especially dangerous for children. They are internationally banned, but Ukrainian officials say Russia is using them in its war in Ukraine, with several devices found in various conflict-torn regions.
But the mine problem in Ukraine is not limited to land. The waters of the Black Sea are also contaminated with hundreds of mines laid by the Russians and Ukrainians, with Kyiv and Moscow blaming each other. The extent of the mining activities remains unknown. Their presence also poses a serious threat to other countries bordering the Black Sea. Bulgarian officials have warned citizens living near the coast to be aware of mines while Romania works to defuse devices found in its waters. At least two mines appear to have reached the Turkish coast since the invasion began.
Local demining experts warn that even if the war ends tomorrow, it will take at least a decade to eliminate the threat.
Additional reporting by Artem Majulin
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