About 23 thousand square kilometers in Ukraine have been critically affected by war, 138.5 thousand square kilometers are probably mined - Ministry of Economy
Currently, the area critically affected by the war in Ukraine is about 23 thousand square kilometers.
According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform, this was reported by Olena Pareniuk, coordinator of mine action prioritization projects at the Ministry of Economy, during the V International Conference "National Challenge: Soil Degradation or Restoration of Fertility?"
"We expect the area affected by the war to be many times larger. Currently, the area critically affected by the war is about 23 thousand square kilometers. That is, after Ukraine's victory, we expect this territory to be severely degraded, and we need to introduce soil rehabilitation methods," Pareniuk said.
She also said that currently the areas that are classified as possibly mined amount to 138.5 thousand square kilometers. In addition, last year, thanks to technical inspections, 35 thousand square kilometers of agricultural land were returned to use. The Ministry of Economy has now launched a system of full compensation to farmers for demining services.
In addition, Pareniuk emphasized that heavy pollution is expected in the areas where the fighting took place, as the enemy has repeatedly used chemical weapons as well. Moreover, the density of bombing reaches 300-400 discharges per day.
"We can't say how bad it is, because scientists have to come there, take samples and investigate. So, yes, we expect 23 thousand square kilometers to be heavily affected, but we are not ready to say that this figure is final," she added.
