Mine-clearing to take decades

The world’s largest demining charity, the Halo Trust, is doubling its staff in Ukraine this year as it faces an “epochal” challenge to clear liberated areas of explosives.

As the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches, the charity is undertaking a “huge” training programme to expand its staff in the country to around 1,200 this summer.

It is impossible to know exactly how many mines, shells and rockets require to be disposed of, but the process is likely to take decades.

Chief executive James Cowan said the generally understood rule is that for every day of war, a monthlong clear-up is needed.

Speaking at the trust’s headquarters in Dumfriesshire, he said: “The area the Russians have occupied is about the size of the whole of the United Kingdom. It’s absolutely vast.

“They’re firing about 40,000 artillery rounds a day, of which about 10% are not going off. So there are still live rounds buried in the ground.

“They are laying landmines on an extraordinary scale. They’re using cluster munitions, rockets, and missiles.”

The Halo Trust, which operates in 28 countries around the world, trains local staff for its mineclearing work.

While the charity is impartial, it has not been allowed to work in Russianheld parts of Ukraine.

The Halo Trust’s head of European operations, Mike Newton, said 125 minefields have been identified in northern Ukraine alone.

He said: “The scale of the problem we know of so far is epochal. It’s on an intergenerational scale.”

Until recently, the most dangerous types of explosives were antivehicle mines often found in northern Ukraine, he said.

Anti-personnel mines and booby traps are now emerging as a threat in areas which have been recaptured by Ukraine.

Mr Newton said: “In Kharkiv, there are certain areas where we’re seeing anti-vehicle mines, mixed with anti-personnel mines, mixed with booby traps and cluster munitions.

“There are unique operational challenges for us in Ukraine now, such as we haven’t seen in the entire time the Halo Trust has been operating.”

LIFESAVER: Kieran McCulloch, a Scottish goalkeeper, works with the Halo Trust.