US actor in kyiv details mine problem facing Ukraine

Ukraine's economy and its ability to support its war effort against Russia could be fatally undermined by large-scale mining across the country, US actor Misha Collins said, as kyiv pushes for more new funds for mine clearance machines.

Vast swathes of Ukrainian territory contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance are 'crippling the economy' and ultimately 'preventing Ukraine from recovering from war,' said Collins, a star of the US drama for a long time. Supernaturalsaid News week during a visit to kyiv focused on mine clearance efforts.

“Ukraine must continue to function as an economy and a society during the war, in order to support the war and continue to fight the Russian invasion,” said Collins, an ambassador for the fundraising platform United24, supported by the government. “If they don’t succeed, then the war is lost and Ukrainian culture is lost too.”

Ukraine has become the most mined country in the world. According to United24, nearly a quarter of the country – about 156,000 square kilometers, or just over 60,200 square miles – needs to be examined for mine clearance efforts. This is roughly the equivalent in the US state of Georgia, the platform says.

“Hundreds of kilometers of minefields, millions of explosive devices, in some parts of the front line up to five mines per square meter,” said Oleksii Reznikov, then defense minister. The Guardian last August. Russia and Ukraine have laid mines intended to hamper each other's operations in the war that began with the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.

Collins is the face of a new United24 fundraiser, hoping to raise $450,000 for a new armored mine-clearing vehicle that the platform says can carry around 4,000 kilograms of explosives to a point depot, where they are then eliminated.

A senior United Nations official said this week that Ukraine “will need decades of mine clearance efforts.”

Mine clearance equipment rarely attracts attention at the expense of flashy weapons systems, but Ukraine is adamant that efforts to eliminate explosives are a top priority. Funding and military aid from kyiv's Western allies, including the United States, have included mine-clearing equipment. Ukrainian media reported this week that kyiv was testing a new unmanned ground vehicle intended to eliminate antipersonnel mines.

Ukraine said mines, cluster munitions, booby traps and tripwires had been found in territory previously under Russian control, including in residential areas, public spaces and children's toys. The new mine clearance vehicle will help with humanitarian mine clearance, Collins said.

In addition to posing a risk to civilians, unexploded ordnance hampers kyiv's military operations. Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the summer counteroffensive against Russian troops began much later than expected – in part because of delays in Western military aid – and allowed Russia to massively undermine parts of Ukraine and slow down Kiev's troops.

“Russian minefields pose a serious obstacle for our troops, but they are not insurmountable,” Reznikov said in August.

Ukraine is also a major global grain exporter, nicknamed the “breadbasket” of the world. Mines across the country mean “many farms are lying fallow and unusable,” Collins said.

Russia withdrew last summer from a deal guaranteeing the safe passage of grain cargo ships to and from Ukraine, triggering new fears about international food security. Floating mines in the Black Sea further undermine exports.

Food exports represented a major source of income for kyiv and a key resource for many low-income countries supplied by Ukraine.