Ukraine
Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe, after Russia. It shares borders with seven countries and two seas.
HALO began work here in 2015, but operations were stepped up in 2022 after the Russian invasion. Our focus has been on surveying the land, clearing explosives, and delivering safety training.
In the last decade, we've enabled more than 16,000 people to return to safe land.
Situation in Ukraine
Ukraine is often described as 'Europe's bread basket', as it is one of the largest agricultural producers in the world. In recent years, the country’s agricultural land has been decimated by mines and explosives.
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, an estimated 2 million landmines have been laid. The Ukrainian Government has stated that an area larger than Greece will need to be surveyed for explosives.
Making land safe is fundamental to save lives, protect livelihoods, and support Ukraine’s long-term recovery.
HALO's work in Ukraine
HALO's Ukrainian staff have conducted mine clearance in the eastern regions of Kramatorsk and Mariupol since 2015. At the start of the Russian offensive in February 2022, we were already embedded in communities. This uniquely positioned HALO to respond quickly to the crisis and coordinate an emergency response.
Since then we have built a new clearance operation near Kyiv to respond to urgent humanitarian needs. Our operation now encompasses mine clearance, safety education, and non-technical surveying. We're working in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Odesa, and Donetsk oblasts.
HALO's work always starts with mine risk education and non-technical surveying. This provides an immediate emergency response and a way to collect data about the type, scale and density of explosive contamination. Once the surveying is complete, we start on manual and mechanical landmine clearance.
HALO's Ukraine programme has become a centre of excellence for research and development, helping our work more safely, quickly, and efficiently.
"Mines blow up and can kill you. I think they are everywhere in the forests. But there are special people who find them and take them out of the ground."
HALO's impact in Ukraine
HALO is the largest international mine action organisation in Ukraine. We employ 1,500 Ukrainian staff, nearly 30% of whom are women. HALO has benefited from strong links to the Ukrainian authorities and local communities. We've been able to adapt quickly as we have fleet, logistics, and trained staff in place.
Since 2022, we've cleared over 20 million square metres of land, including vital agricultural areas. Ukraine provides a quarter of global wheat and grain exports and 80% of sunflower oil.
We've identified hazardous areas equivalent to more than 11,000 football pitches, and cleared over 33,000 mines and explosives.
HALO has also been running risk education sessions, in-person, online, and through social media campaigns. This includes launching a mine awareness course on the biggest educational online platform in Ukraine. Over 720,000 people have attended training sessions and our social media campaigns have been seen tens of millions of times.
Three years on from the invasion, we continue our commitment to saving lives and restoring livelihoods in Ukraine.
Applying technology to clear Ukraine
Mine clearance operations in Ukraine are intricate and challenging. New explosive threats make the situation extremely complex. In Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions, over 70% of minefields or battle areas assessed by HALO contain these devices:
- Tripwire devices
- Magnetic influence mines (activated by metal or a change in the magnetic field)
- Seismic mines (activated by vibrations in the earth)
In response, HALO Ukraine is transforming our approach to land preparation and clearance. We're using advanced survey techniques and remote-controlled clearance machines.
Drones are quick, safe, and effective so HALO Ukraine is increasingly using them in our survey and clearance operations. We're using AI to analyse satellite photos to identify potential mine threats.
In 2024, HALO was the first international operator to be authorised to use explosives to destroy items in situ. This important development allows us to conduct full-cycle demining, making our work faster and more effective.
Thanks to the support of our donors, we're continuing to trial new machinery and processes to help us clear more land safely and efficiently.
Beyond Bombs podcast: Ukraine – the new geopolitics
JJ Chalmers
What will be the human cost of clearing Ukraine of landmines and unexploded bombs? What are the wider geopolitical implications of Putin's war?
In this podcast episode, JJ Chalmers talks with military historian Sir Hew Strachan, Emma Sky, Director of Yale University's International Leadership Centre and HALO's CEO, James Cowan.
Other HALO programmes in Europe and Caucasus
HALO's work in Ukraine is funded by:
