Sky News: Ukraine has become the most mined country in the world
With more than 40% of the country contaminated with mines by one estimate, Ukraine is believed to now be the most mined country in the world, writes Sky News.
Newly-liberated towns can remain dangerous long after the last Russian forces have been forced out, with Ukrainian defenders discovering tripwires and booby traps as well as anti-tank explosives ready to detonate.
"Contamination is massive," Kateryna Templeton from the Mines Advisory Group tells Sky News.
"It's not even comparable, I would say, to Syria or Afghanistan. It's really massive."
International law prohibits and restricts the use of various mines, particularly those designed to target people.
Russian forces have been accused by Human Rights Watch of using banned anti-personnel mines in the eastern Kharkiv region.
Some landmines in Ukraine pre-date February 2022, with Russian-backed forces in Donetsk and Luhansk using various devices in 2014-2015 and sporadically in the following years, according to Human Rights Watch.
