Romain Rouillard 9:00 p.m., January 30, 2023

The British NGO Mines Advisory Group unveiled an estimate on Sunday according to which 40% of Ukrainian territory is contaminated by mines.

Dangerous for local populations, these explosives also have consequences for the country's agricultural production.

Especially since the demining operation should last. 

This is one of the many deleterious consequences of the Russian invasion in Ukraine which could disrupt the daily life of the populations, including when the conflict ends.

A British NGO called Mines Advisory Group (MAG) estimated last Sunday that 40% of Ukrainian soil was infested with mines.

A figure – relayed by Sky News – which would make Ukraine the most mined country in the world, ahead of Syria or Afghanistan.

And which would corroborate the remarks made at the beginning of January by Denys Chmyhal, the Ukrainian Prime Minister, who declared to the South Korean press agency Yonhap that his country was "the largest minefield in the world".

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A considerable number of explosives have, in fact, been used by Russian forces on Ukrainian territory, despite the rules of international law which prohibit the use of mines designed to directly target individuals.

"You will see anti-tank mines, anti-personnel mines, booby traps, you will see a lot of unexploded ordnance, you will see cluster munitions. Anything you can think of, you will see in Ukraine", list Kateryna Templeton, still on Sky News. 

Unusable agricultural land

Several of these mines were laid well before the Russian invasion when the war was already raging in the Donbass between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists.

Some have been contaminating the soil since 2014 according to the organization Human Rights Watch and have caused 611 victims since the start of the conflict, assures the Mines Advisory Group.

In recent months, Russian soldiers - roughed up by Ukrainian troops in some towns - have reportedly placed booby traps in the ground before retreating.

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This massive presence can be extremely dangerous for the local populations and considerably hinders the country's agricultural production.

Many surfaces, riddled with explosives, are now completely unusable and could be damaged for several decades.

According to Perrine Benoist, director of the Armed Violence Reduction Department for the NGO Handicap International, quoted by

Le Monde

, the demining operation could last "50 years".