It only takes a few fragments of a second. A mine explodes, and a life is forever disfigured. The scourge of anti-personnel mines has returned to service in Ukraine, while nearly half of the country is contaminated, according to the most recent estimates. Visit to the volunteers who are working to defuse this vast minefield.
The sun doesn’t rise for another two hours, but Kristina, who prefers her last name to be withheld for security reasons, and her team of deminers are already up. They get into a car which takes them close to the front. A military outpost awaits them. We give them their mission for the day: “we are moving in this direction, we need help to clear this road”.
Demining work begins. “We separate into pairs,” Kristina tells the To have to. There is a person with a metal detector and another with a probe. If you hear a “beep”, you lean over and feel the ground with the probe. If it’s just scrap metal, we move on. If it’s a mine, we detonate it. We destroy everything. There is no reason to make a memory of it. Afterwards, we leave a mark on the ground to indicate that it is clean. And so that the cars do not leave these lines! »
This Ukrainian, barely 30 years old, left her native country at the age of 8 to live in England. She decided to return to Ukraine when the war broke out, called by duty. “I wanted to go there especially for the children, to prevent them from finding trapped toys or finding their room stuffed with explosives. Cruelty to children is disgusting. »
Ukrainian deminers like her are currently focusing on mines laid outside. After clearing the regions of Boutcha, Hostomel, then Irpin, Kristina’s team is now focusing on the east of the country. Up to 15 anti-personnel mines and 2 anti-tank mines can be neutralized in one day, on an average three kilometer route. “The next day it may be nothing, thank God,” she said. “Sometimes a small road can take weeks. »
Trained in emergency in Kosovo, she is the only civilian in her regiment. “I have no fear in this work,” she assures, confidence in her voice. “I get pleasure from it, because I know how vital it is, and there are not many sappers in Ukraine. »
The real danger, she says, is when the front goes wild all around. “Sometimes you get to the point where you go to work and you take intense artillery fire. We learn that a tank is nearby. The day is over. We hide and we wait. [Rire] Must wait. We can spend almost an hour under a tree waiting until the shelling stops and we can get to our vehicle to leave the area. »
In the evening, everything stops. Seeing the explosive clearly is too important “As long as it’s sunny, we’ll work,” she laughs. His good humor also punctuates the entire interview. “I keep my humor, because, what can I do? Making the scene even more depressing will make me hi. »
Canada as an ally
Canada is not taking part in demining operations, because the war is still raging and the front is still moving, says Anne Delorme, director general of Humanity and Inclusion, Canada’s representative in Ukraine in this file.
“We are currently in risk education, especially for children. We provide assistance to victims of anti-personnel mines with rehabilitation and prostheses,” she says.
Between February and September 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded 277 civilian mine victims in Ukraine.
No less than 250,000 km2 of territory are now soiled by these explosive devices, according to the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal. Canadian estimates indicate rather than 300,000 km2 of territory are contaminated, i.e. nearly half of the country. This area is equivalent to most of the inhabited territory of Quebec. “Never has a country been so contaminated for 50 years,” says Anne Delorme. It will take another 50 years to overcome the demining of Ukraine, she says.
“It prevents civilians from resuming a normal life. [Les mines] aim to mutilate, terrorize and saturate the territory. When we say mutilate, it means that we create complex and difficult to heal wounds, not to kill the person. It has the effect of terrorizing the community. »
The Russians competed in ingenuity (and cruelty) in this conflict by deploying five types of mines never seen before, including the terrible “POM-3”. “Rather than pounding on the mine to activate it, when you approach it, the mine feels the vibrations, rises in the air and explodes. The fragments hit the eyes, the face, the stomach,” explains Anne Delorme.
Another horror: the so-called “butterfly” mines, which are no bigger than a fist and sadly look like a toy. Dropped randomly by planes, they become perfectly invisible under the autumn leaves.
Russia has the largest stockpile of mines in the world, with more than 28.5 million units identified. “We are talking about one mine per Ukrainian,” notes Anne Delorme.
Maps to thwart mines
A dozen international organizations are working in Ukraine to counter this scourge. “The most effective way to save lives is by educating people about the dangers,” said Colin King, head of Fenix Insight, a UK-based company.
His team distributed some 40,000 packets of cards to raise public awareness of the risks of these explosives.
“When we have already seen an example on the maps, it is then easier to call the authorities to report the danger. »
At a production cost of two dollars, these packages will save many lives, hopes Colin King. “It goes into the hands of citizens, but not only. They are in the hands of soldiers at the front, special forces, police, deminers, humanitarian organizations, but also in schools and holiday camps. They are really everywhere, from Poland to the front lines. »
The war effort of the deminers could last less than 50 years, according to him, so much the resources abound in Ukraine. “In 50 years, we will still find bombs in the ground, that’s for sure. But there are still bombs in the ground in France, more than 100 years after the First World War. The country does not stop for that. »
Except that before demining on a large scale, the conflict must first stop.