Two and a half years of war caused Ukrainians a lot of grief, suffering and losses. Thousands of civilians were killed and murdered by the Russians, people were injured, houses and businesses were destroyed. Civilians in the zone of military operations and in the de-occupied territory face mine danger.

In the villages of the Kharkiv region, there are often cases when mines explode, because it is often quite difficult for people to see them. It is dangerous to graze livestock. Sometimes the peasants lose their cows in an instant.

Milkmaid is from the Stara Hnylitsa led the cows to graze. They went to the grass. They did not know that there were mines. And two cows exploded into pieces – there was nothing to even take. I don’t understand how it is? From such a large cow? It is a large-sized animal? there was nothing to take! And the third cow had a distended belly. They were able to slaughter her for meat

A huge number of mines and unexploded ammunition make not only the meadows and fields in the villages unusable, but also the areas between the buildings of the cities.

Russian troops were stationed there. And they mined. And that’s why you can’t do anything there. It is necessary to clear the mines. Those who were supposed to demine came and refused. They said that every small metal object makes a sound and is therefore difficult to demine. That is why everything is overgrown with grass. But still we hope in the Lord, God willing and the church will stand here

Sometimes, even the already found rubble remains lying beside the road, because physically there are simply no resources to quickly demine everything.

The field near us is still mined, there are even signs saying that it is mined, do not go there. And I found mines. I needed sticks to grow tomatoes. I went to cut them down by the road. I see some kind of cover, but I didn’t touch it. And today we were shown posters with mines. I see that this is what I saw by the road. Good thing I didn’t step on her.

If adults already understand the dangers of dealing with mines and other munitions, with which Kharkiv region is polluted, it is more difficult with children. Sometimes their childish curiosity puts the whole family in mortal danger.

We were in occupation last year. My little brother and sister were walking. They found a mine, but thought it was some kind of firework. They wanted to salute my mother. They brought a mine to the house. Mom and dad ran and started cursing. If that mine exploded, it would demolish half the house. We went and buried her. We didn’t know what to do with her then. And she lies so buried in the forest.

According to the official data of the State Service for Emergency Situations in Kharkiv Oblast, during the war, they went on demining calls about 32,000 times and neutralized about 100,000 unexploded ordnance.

Ukraine is the most mine-contaminated country in the world, and Kharkiv region is one of the most mine-contaminated regions of Ukraine. Demining is a serious task that can only be solved with the cooperation of state and non-state organizations.