“Ukraine will need more than 10 years to exchange agricultural lands of the country”, - Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Klymenko
This was stated by the Head of the Department during the International Summit of Cities and Regions within the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine.
During the panel “Humanitarian demining and mine safety” Igor Klymenko said that at present all forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are involved in the demining of the territory of Ukraine. These are the units of the State Emergency Service, the National Police of Ukraine and the sapper units of the National Guard.
“To date, we are faced with a big problem that the enemy continues to leave us — the total mining of territories, and the longer the enemy is in this or that temporarily occupied territory, the larger the area of mining. Moreover, we are faced with a huge number of traps, both in homes and on critical infrastructure facilities. Even in children's rooms and schools. Power lines and gas lines are also changing,” the Minister of Internal Affairs stressed.
According to Igor Klymenko, the authorities now face a huge challenge, namely, how to restore livelihoods to the de-occupied territories and make them safe for citizens. After all, about 30% of the territory of Ukraine has been mined. Because of this, not only explosives, but also civilians are killed and injured every day:
“The SNS decommissioned, surveyed and cleared 800 square kilometers. People are in these areas around the clock in order to exchange them as soon as possible. Thus, the State Emergency Service neutralized 350 thousand explosive objects, the National Police - 210 thousand, and the National Guard - 27 thousand.”
In view of the great mineworkings of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs established the International Coordination Center on Humanitarian Demining.
“We have almost completed the training of an additional 400 of our sappers, which will start work in June-July. And now we are recruiting an additional 500 people who, after appropriate training, will be ready to fulfill their duties,” the Head of the Department summed up.
Department of Communications
