Atrocities committed by the russian army: Since the onset of the large-scale invasion, over 1,000 civilians have suffered from anti-personnel mines

Since the onset of the large-scale invasion, 1,083 civilians in liberated territories have been injured by russian anti-personnel mines. Of these, 333 were killed, and 750 sustained injuries. Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions remain the most contaminated areas of the liberated territories, mainly due to mines and other explosive remnants of war.

Representatives of the Main Directorate of Mine Action, Civil Protection, and Environmental Safety, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported this at the Fifth Review Conference (5RC) on the Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines, and on Their Destruction, held in the Kingdom of Cambodia as part of the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit. 

The event was attended by representatives from 90 member states, 12 observer countries of the Ottawa Convention, and nearly 20 delegations from various international organizations.

The Ukrainian delegation provided a detailed account to the international community of the crimes committed by the russian federation involving the use of anti-personnel mines against civilians.

Conference participants were also provided with information regarding the shelling of humanitarian demining teams, which obstructs the full implementation of mine action efforts.

Furthermore, information was provided on the efforts to clear areas contaminated by russian anti-personnel mines, as well as the progress made by Ministry of Defence units in this regard during 2024. For instance, during the non-technical surveys, 35,000 km² of territory were marked as free of risk evidence, reducing the area of potentially contaminated land from 174,000 km² to 139,000 km².