June 13, 2026
Ukraine’s mined territory currently covers approximately 133,300 square kilometers, or nearly 20% of the country’s total area. Serhii Reva, Director of the Department for Mine Action Measures at the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, officially stated that due to the occupation and proximity to the front line, fully clearing these areas remains an extremely difficult task. Despite this, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has managed to return more than 40,700 square kilometers of land to safe use.
Humanitarian demining has become a key factor in the survival of Ukraine’s economy. According to large-scale analytical research by the Tony Blair Institute, mined fields and disrupted logistics routes cost Ukraine approximately $11.2 billion in GDP every year, while direct losses to agricultural exports exceed $8.9 billion. The most critical situation involving explosive ordnance contamination remains in the Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Donetsk regions.
To accelerate land clearance, Ukraine is introducing new technological standards. According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, the list of areas to be cleared in 2026 was compiled for the first time using the GRIT digital prioritization system. The platform uses artificial intelligence, satellite imagery, and the integration of more than 20 government databases to determine the sequence in which demining operations should be carried out.
Svyrydenko also noted that Ukraine’s demining operator market is expanding rapidly. The number of operators has increased from 74 to 134 organizations, driven by the involvement of the private sector alongside the State Emergency Service and the State Special Transport Service.
Financial and legal support has also become an important part of the process. Farmers can use a simplified government program providing 100% coverage of agricultural land demining costs through the State Agrarian Register, with UAH 2 billion allocated for this purpose in the state budget. In addition, it has been officially agreed at the international level that individuals and businesses will be able to submit claims for reimbursement of humanitarian demining costs through the Register of Damage for Ukraine (RD4U).
The Andromeda Demining System unit is focused on clearing Ukrainian territories of explosive ordnance. The company operates in some of the most dangerous areas, where every step can be critical to people’s safety. It combines time-tested methods with modern technologies, including drones and robotic platforms, to improve both safety and operational efficiency.
A digital breakthrough and billions in spending: how Ukraine is clearing 130,000 sq km of mined land