Since February last year, when Russia launched its military offensive in Ukraine, mine explosions have killed some 200 civilians, while hundreds of others have been injured.

According to the UN and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal, the country has become the world’s largest minefield, prompting the government to set up a special center to deal with the consequences.

Last summer, the Ukrainian Association of Deminers claimed that minefields covered some 133,000 square kilometers in Ukraine, but the figure recently announced by Shmigal is 250,000 square kilometers of mines, half the size of Spain.

Ukraine’s minefields are growing exponentially. In the last year, the entire front line of both sides has been mined. Mines are often laid in a scattered and unmapped manner. Given the vastness of Ukrainian territory, this makes the process of locating and neutralizing them extremely difficult.

The situation in Ukraine is worse than in Afghanistan and Syria…