The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, witnessed first-hand the lifesaving work of landmine charity The HALO Trust in a minefield in Ukraine this morning.
SoS James Cleverly met Ukrainian women and men working for HALO in the village of Hrebelky, near Brovary in Kyiv oblast. The village was occupied for 26 days at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. Russian troops defended the village with POM-3 landmines, which has 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.
HALO has visited over 800 settlements across five oblasts in Ukraine, of which nearly 75 per cent are contaminated with explosives. It has recorded over 700 civilian casualties due to landmines – a figure is almost certainly too low because of underreporting. In May 2023, HALO deminers cleared almost 5,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel landmines – most of which were found in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions.
The site of the visit demonstrated how land that is vital for Ukrainian farmers is being left uncultivated due to unprecedented quantities of landmines and other explosive remnants of war. The HALO Trust is funded by UK Aid to train and send teams to survey land quickly and effectively. They then clear areas known to be contaminated with mines, or give farmers confidence to cultivate areas previously suspected to be contaminated that are found to be safe during survey.
Pete Smith, Programme Manager of HALO Ukraine said: "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. The British government have supported our work in countries such as Afghanistan, Mozambique, Angola and Zimbabwe."
He added: "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 HALO Trust has operated in Ukraine since 2016. It relocated from its Kramatorsk headquarters in the Donbas in May 2022 and has doubled its workforce from 400 to 800 personnel. HALO teams are clearing landmines and artillery from farmland and residential areas in Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts.
The HALO Trust will be attending the forthcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference, hosted in London on behalf of Ukraine, on 21-22 June. It hopes to showcase how mine clearance will be essential to future investment and reconstruction in Ukraine, as well as giving confidence to private sector investment.
