It is impossible to start restoring the ecosystem of Ukraine, which has suffered as a result of the large-scale aggression of the russian federation, without demining. Clearing fields, forests, and water bodies is step zero in the process of rehabilitating our country, said Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, in her speech at the United for Justice. United for Nature Conference held in Kyiv on 20-21 October.
According to preliminary data of the Government, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 2,500 cases of environmental damage caused by russia have been documented, including 14 cases of ecocide under investigation. The estimated environmental damage caused by the full-scale invasion is estimated at EUR 55.6 billion - and this does not include the damage caused by the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. At the same time, the losses are growing by about EUR 102 million every day. In turn, according to preliminary estimates by the UN, the Ministry of Economy and the Kyiv School of Economics, the damage caused to the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station is almost USD 14 billion.
"We need to start overcoming the consequences of russian terrorist attacks against the environment now, without waiting for the war to end. That is why the fight against russian ecocide and environmental protection are among the top ten priorities of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula. We hold regular meetings with international partners and members of the working group on the eighth point of the Peace Formula, chaired by Andriy Yermak. We are grateful to everyone who is involved in this process and helps us to overcome this challenge. Together with our partners, our goal is to assess the environmental damage caused by russian aggression, bring the aggressor to justice for environmental crimes, and force them to compensate for the damage. I am confident that comprehensive joint work will help us restore the environment and accelerate the green transition of the economy," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
As the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy stressed, demining of the territory of Ukraine is the zero stage of recovery. Today, more than 170,000 square kilometres of Ukraine's territory are potentially contaminated. More than 6 million people are at risk from mines and unexploded ordnance. Around 800 Ukrainians have already become mine victims, of whom more than 250 have been killed. Mines also damage the environment - biodiversity, soil and water are affected, and the soil and water are contaminated as a result of explosions.
According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, in order to make Ukrainian land safe and reduce future environmental damage, the Ministry of Economy is making every effort in the field of humanitarian demining, working in the following areas:
- Engaging state-of-the-art demining technologies, such as remote sensing using drones and satellite imagery, big data analysis, etc. Currently, in cooperation with the US-based Palantir, we are developing a system that will use artificial intelligence to analyse big data and help make demining decisions more efficiently.
- Promoting the creation and development of domestic production of demining machinery and equipment, and localisation of foreign companies' production in Ukraine.
- Creating a competitive market for demining services with the possibility of competitive bidding through Prozorro will help speed up the demining of agricultural land. To ensure that more farmers can use the services, the draft budget for next year provides UAH 2 billion to compensate for the costs.
- Hiring specialists to train sappers and other personnel. Ukraine urgently needs specialists. By the end of the year, we plan to increase the number of sappers to 5,000, which is twice as many as at present.
According to the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, work is currently underway with international partners to draft a National Mine Action Strategy. The working version of the document was presented at the First International Donor Conference on Humanitarian Mine Action in Ukraine in Zagreb. The draft document will be presented for public discussion by the end of November and submitted for approval by the end of the year. The Strategy will be a practical document that will contain a shared vision of Ukraine and international partners of the demining processes in our country, said Yuliia Svyrydenko, calling on the conference attendees to join the work on the project.
According to the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Ukraine also offers partner countries to take patronage over certain demining areas. For example, it could be patronage over the survey and demining of national parks and forest lands.