In north-east Ukraine, less than 50km from the Russian border, lies the city of Shostka. In the first months of the full-scale invasion it was blockaded, and ever since has faced constant shelling and drone strikes from the Russian army.
But if and when the attacks stop, there will be an invisible danger that will linger for much longer: unexploded devices. Ukraine is now one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, with about a quarter of its territory – an area larger than England – contaminated with explosives.
Even before Russia began increasing the scale of its bombardments this summer, Shostka and the wider Sumy region had been accumulating large numbers of unexploded mines and other ordnance. In Sumy that means roads villagers once trusted can no longer be used, parks and forests have become fraught with danger, and fields that once fed communities must be abandoned.
“A few days ago, there were 40 Shahed drones over us. They can drop mines now, so even if nothing explodes right away, there’s always a chance something will go off later,” says Shostka resident and explosives specialist Yelyzaveta Kyseliova, 21.
“People usually call the Ukrainian military when they see something suspicious, but mines are everywhere now, dropped from drones, scattered by rockets. Two weeks ago, a family was killed on a road they’d driven for years. It wasn’t a hidden track. That mine was put there recently, probably by a drone,” she says.
Local activists say incidents involving mines happen so frequently that some residents don’t even bother reporting them.
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