Ukraine – environmental aspects of humanitarian demining

Abstract

In 2021, Ukraine produced such an amount of food that it would have been possible to feed about 400 million people, not counting the population of Ukraine. The strategy for the development of the agricultural sector of Ukraine envisages providing food for 1 billion of the world’s population by 2030. However, the aggression of Russia on February 24, 2022, and the subsequent hostilities led to the contamination of agricultural lands with a significant amount of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), which requires humanitarian demining. This article is devoted to the review of the humanitarian demining process from the point of view of its impact on the environment and the determination of the main components affecting the production of agricultural products. In the first period of the demining process, there will be a significant decline in the production of agricultural products. This decline will be determined by the reduction in the area of cultivated agricultural land due to the danger of explosion. In the course of the demining and liquidation of ERW, the area of land will increase, as will the volume of production, but the quality of products will decrease due to the presence of heavy metal compounds and explosive residues in it and the deterioration of the quality of the soil itself. Therefore, after the liberation of Ukraine’s territory, contaminated by mines and ERW, taking into account its importance as the world’s granary, the demining time is of great importance and Ukraine will be very grateful for any help that will reduce it.