Ukraine makes progress in demining prioritized agricultural land, nearly half now cleared

Since the beginning of the year, more than 225,000 hectares of agricultural land designated for priority return to economic exploitation have been surveyed, the Ministry of Economy reports.

In the last week of October, more than 5,000 hectares of such land were surveyed.

The vast majority of the surveyed areas in a week – almost 4,200 hectares – are in Kherson Oblast. The rest are in the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv oblasts.

In general, more than 47% of agricultural lands, which are planned to be returned to economic exploitation as priority, have already been surveyed.

"In Kharkiv Oblast – over 28%, Kherson Oblast – 48%, Mykolaiv Oblast – over 79%," the report says.

A total of about 170,000 hectares of land were returned to economic exploitation.

By the end of 2023, Ukraine aims to fulfill up to 35% of the four-year plan for the priority demining of agricultural lands and put into operation up to 165,000 hectares of land. In general, the agricultural land demining plan provides for the priority commissioning of about 470,000 hectares of agricultural land.

In May, pyrotechnicians reached stable rates of mine clearing of agricultural lands – on average, during one week, they examine about 5,500 hectares.