On a cold and sunny late autumn day in Lypivka, the non-governmental organization HALO is handing out bulky protective clothing. Here, to the west of Kyiv, the men are preparing to clear mines. All they have left to do is to go through a short safety briefing before they set about their task. The fields and farmland in the region are covered with all kinds of explosives, including booby traps, mines and unexploded ordnance. Indeed, even HALO isn't totally sure about what is lurking beneath the surface.
An elderly woman who goes by the nickname Baba Katja ("Grandmother Katja") is here to greet the mine-removing personnel. Everyone here knows her. With a smile, she explains how, each day, she brings the mine sweepers walnuts and apples from her garden. Or she bakes something to thank them for their work.
She was at church when the Russians invaded the village last year, she says. Together with her eldest daughter, the 84-year-old fled to the Romanian border, a total of eight people in a small car. She says she cried the whole trip.
It's a Herculean task. About 10 organizations are involved in humanitarian mine-clearing in Ukraine, and HALO alone has more than 1,000 people on the ground. Still, though, will likely take several years until all the mines have been cleared.
"There is no magic formula for clearing mines, but if we are creative, Ukraine can overcome many of the economic problems caused by mine contamination within the next 10 years," says Paul Heslop, the program manager for mine clearing in Ukraine at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He argues that innovations such as robots or drones could help save time and money.
Currently, mine clearance efforts in Ukraine cost around $300 million a year. The World Bank estimates that completely clearing the country of explosives will cost around $37.6 billion. On top of that, though, comes the financial damage to Ukraine resulting from the fact that mined fields cannot be farmed and mined buildings cannot be rebuilt. That puts the brakes on economic progress.
And of course there is the danger posed directly by the explosive devices. Time and again there are accidents in which people die. According to the United Nations, more than 300 civilians have been killed by mines or unexploded ordnance since the Russians invaded, and twice as many have been injured.
Death in the Fields
When Baba Katja looks out on the fields near her home, it’s not just the mines that she thinks about. Even now, long after the Russian occupiers have left the village, tears still well up in her eyes when she talks about her return to Lypivka. "Dozens of dead soldiers were laying everywhere in the fields, ours and Russian. The place was completely destroyed. It was terrible." Bullets had riddled the curtains in the bedroom of her house, and a young neighbor who had lived across the street was killed during the occupation.
She leads her visitors through the farmyard one last time, past the chickens and the barking dog. "So many people have died," she says, sadly. "And for what? When will it all end?"
A moment passes. Then she looks at the bucket in front of her and smiles again. "Don’t forget the walnuts!"
With additional reporting by Halyna Rudyk