Thornhill-based landmine charity The HALO Trust’s clearance operation in Ukraine was visited by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Tuesday.
The government minister was able to see for himself the lifesaving work by trained Ukrainian women and men working for HALO in the village of Hrebelky, near Brovary in Kyiv Oblast.
The trust has operated in Ukraine since 2016 and relocated from its Kramatorsk headquarters in the Donbas in May last year, doubling its workforce from 400 to 800 personnel.
HALO teams are currently clearing landmines and artillery from farmland and residential areas in Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts.
It has already visited more than 800 settlements across five Oblasts in Ukraine, of which nearly 75 per cent are contaminated with explosives.
And the trust has recorded more than 700 civilian casualties due to landmines – a figure which is almost certainly too low because of under-reporting.
Last month, HALO workers cleared almost 5,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel landmines – most of which were found in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions.
The charity’s Ukraine programme manager, Pete Smith, was able to show Mr Cleverly and Ambassador Melinda Simmons how land that is vital for Ukrainian farmers is being left uncultivated due to unprecedented quantities of landmines and other explosive remnants of war.
And he told them that HALO teams are using funding from UK Aid to train and send teams to survey land quickly and effectively, including the use of a Robocut remote controlled machine.
Mr Smith said: “Sadly, we are seeing minefields in Mykolaiv and Kharkiv today that far exceed the scale of minelaying we have seen anywhere else in the world, or indeed since World War II.
“It was a pleasure to host the Foreign Secretary and the Ambassador at Brovary, so they could see first-hand how HALO’s 35 years of expertise is fuelling our efforts to clear vital Ukrainian farmland and save Ukrainian lives and limbs. We are grateful to the UK FCDO for their continued support, enabling us to employ almost 800 Ukrainian women and men across central and eastern Ukraine.
“Ukraine may still be at war, but HALO is proud to be part of the vital first step of Ukraine’s journey to recovery.
“The British government has also supported our work in countries such as Afghanistan, Mozambique, Angola and Zimbabwe.”
Mr Cleverly, who was in Ukraine to meet his counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was told that the village of Hrebelky was occupied for 26 days at the beginning of the Russian invasion in March last year.
Russian troops defended the village with POM-3 landmines, which have a seismic sensor that can be triggered by approaching footsteps.
The Russians forces also covered the village in tripwires attached to grenades, causing additional fatal hazards to the population.
The trust will be attending the forthcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference being hosted in London on June 21 and 22.
James Cowan, chief executive of HALO, said: “We hope Tuesday’s visit by the Foreign Secretary shows the world that Britain is committed to helping Ukraine thrive again.”
