Ukrainian Teams Clear Mines Around Liberated City Of Lyman

An officer with the Ukrainian National Police's demining team prepares to deal with mines and other explosives near the liberated town of Lyman.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Russia is causing casualties and suffering among civilians in its war against Ukraine by using antipersonnel land mines that have been banned internationally.

Russia is not a party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty that has been ratified by 164 countries. Besides forbidding the use of such weapons, the treaty also requires the destruction of stock, clearance of mined areas, and assistance to victims.

The Ukrainian liberation of the Donetsk-region town of Lyman is the latest in a series of major battlefield defeats for Russia’s military.
 

HRW says that Russia has used its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine to battle-test several new types of land mines.

Because of the use of land mines by the Russian invaders, agricultural production in Ukraine has also been impacted. The use of farming vehicles in fields and on rural paths and roads has become risky.

Although the Russian occupation of Lyman has ended, the sounds of demining explosions serve as a continual reminder of the threat the town's residents continue to face.

Collected anti-tank mines and explosives are readied for disposal or detonation.

The Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining has warned that clearing land mines from Ukraine may take decades, hindering reconstruction efforts and making it unsafe for people to return to their prewar daily lives.