Ukraine

Cluster Munition Remnants

Anti-Personnel Mines

  • Article 5 deadline

    1 December 2033

  • Performance

    Poor

Key Developments

In 2023, Ukraine was granted a ten-year extension to its Article 5 deadline under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APBMC) with a new deadline set for 1 December 2033. On 30 April 2024, Ukraine acted upon the decision of the Twenty-First Meeting of States Parties (21MSP) and submitted a work plan for the implementation of Article 5. Clearance by international operators more than tripled in 2023 compared to 2022, though so too did the amount of mined area that they recorded. Capacity continued to expand, with more than 40 national and international mine action operators accredited as at July 2024. Three international demining NGOs were accredited during 2023 and at least one more was seeking accreditation at the time of writing. The Ukrainian authorities continued extensive clearance of explosive ordnance (EO) soon after use. Ukraine has stated its intention to survey all accessible areas by the end of 2026. Extensive use of anti-personnel (AP) mines by Russian forces continued in 2023. In June 2024, Ukraine informed the APMBC intersessional meetings that it was conducting a pre-trial investigation for criminal offenses from 24 February 2022 to 31 May 2024 concerning "the use of anti-personnel mines by unidentified military personnel of individual military formations in the territory of the city of Izyum, Kharkiv region, and surrounding areas." As at June 2024, the pre-trial investigation in these criminal proceedings was ongoing.Statement of Ukraine, APMBC Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18–20 June 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3N5UWrN. This is the most serious violation of the prohibition on use by a State Party to the APBMC in the treaty’s history.


Five-Year Overview

Over the past five years, only 3.48km2 of AP mined area have been released through clearance in Ukraine, and a baseline survey of contamination has not yet been undertaken. Survey and clearance have of course been hugely impeded by the massive and ongoing armed conflict with Russia. Hostilities are significantly adding to EO contamination of all kinds, including AP mines, with Russia using AP mines extensively. Ukraine is conducting a pre-trial investigation of the use of AP mines by its own armed forces but suggests that this occurred in isolated incidents in the Kharkiv region. Ukraine has been able to scale up operational capacity considerably and has improved national ownership and programme management, but there is still a long way to go. A national mine action authority (NMAA) was established in 2022 and a national mine action strategy was finalised in 2024. Operational inefficiencies continue to occur as the result of an overly bureaucratic approach to demining, in particular with respect to the granting of permission to international organisations to transport, store, and use explosives.


Recommendations for Action

  • Ukraine should ensure its forces never use AP mines and prosecute past offenders in accordance with its domestic law.
  • Ukraine should ensure that survey, clearance, and contamination data disaggregate AP mines from explosive remnants of war (ERW).
  • Ukraine should expedite permission to operators to use explosives in mine clearance and accreditation to conduct explosive ordnance disposal (EOD).
  • Ukraine should provide a gender and diversity policy and implementation plan and report on its efforts to mainstream gender and diversity into mine action.

Download the full "Clearing the Mines 2024" report for Ukraine

Click here to download the "Clearing the Mines 2024" report for Ukraine.