Ukrainian deminers try to restore safety after Russia retreats

The body of a man lies on the grass next to an abandoned Russian military camp in eastern Ukraine – a civilian, the victim of a tripwire mine laid by retreating Russian troops.

Nearby, a group of Ukrainian deminers joined the country’s territorial defense forces to clear dozens of other deadly mines and unexploded ordnance in the area – in an effort to restore security to the region’s cities, towns and countryside. Russian occupation.

Deminers, part of the 113th Kharkiv Defence Brigade of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces, follow a muddy path through a field of dead sunflowers overgrown with fallow fields.

The two soldiers, each holding a metal detector, walked slowly up the road, scanning the ground and waiting for a signal from the equipment.

When a detector blared a high-pitched note, a soldier knelt down to examine the dirt and grass, probing it with a metal rod to see what might be buried beneath the surface.

A hit from the detector could indicate a used casing, a piece of rusted iron, or a discarded aluminum can. Or, it could be an active mine.

Oleksii Dokuchaev, commander of the demining brigade in the eastern region of Kharkov, said hundreds of mines had already been cleared in the area around the village of Hrakove where they worked, but the danger of mines across Ukraine would continue for years to come.

“One year of war equals ten years of demining,” he said. “Even now, we’re looking for munitions for World War II, where they were placed left and right.”

After months of Russian occupation, Ukrainian forces quickly counterattacked to retake hundreds of square miles of territory, and Russian troops rushed out of the Kharkiv region in early September.

While many settlements in the region have finally achieved some level of security after intense fighting reduced many to rubble, Russian landmines remain an ever-present threat in urban and rural environments.

Many roads in the Kharkiv region have small red signs with white skulls and crossbones warning of the danger of landmines near sidewalks. Sometimes, however, desperation drives local residents into minefields.

Mr Dokuchaev said locals whose bodies lay near abandoned Russian camps may be searching for food left by invading soldiers, an added danger from the starvation experienced by many in the devastated parts of Ukraine.

He said tripwire mines of the type that killed him are banned under the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, which Russia did not sign, which regulates the use of anti-personnel mines.

“There are rules of war. The Ottawa Convention prohibits placing mines or any other munitions with tripwires. But the Russians ignore it,” he said.

Deminers had cleared the roads of anti-personnel mines the previous day, allowing them to search for hidden anti-tank mines that could destroy any vehicle passing over them.

They hope to take the vehicle deep enough into the area to retrieve an abandoned Russian armored personnel carrier, whose engine they plan to salvage. Local police also needed a car to retrieve the body.

The deminers arrived at the abandoned camp, in a woods littered with the remains of the months Russian soldiers spent there: rotting rations in wooden ammunition boxes, strings of large-caliber bullets, a pile of yellowed Russian newspapers, and trenches filled with garbage.

After a thorough scan of the area, soldiers found two Soviet-made TM-62 anti-tank mines and six pneumatic fuses, which were placed in a depression on the edge of the camp and tied together with 400 grams of TNT in a bundle.

Mr. Dokuchaev placed an electric detonator in the explosives, attached it to a long wire, and took cover with his men at a distance of more than 100 meters.

When the dynamite was detonated — military men laughingly called it a “bada-boom” — the huge explosion ripped through the air, causing a string of autumn leaves to fall from surrounding trees and sending a plume of smoke.

After the mines were destroyed, Mr Dokuchaev – a former photographer who joined the territorial defence forces after the war broke out – said the work his brigade was doing was crucial to keeping civilians safe as they could pick up broken pieces fragments of life.

Despite the dangers, he said, he enjoys his job.

“I don’t know what I will do after the victory,” Mr Dokuchayev said. “Life without explosions is boring.”