Mine Action in Ukraine
Building a Ukrainian capacity for humanitarian land and underwater demining with our partner UDA.
Key figures
THE SITUATION
IN UKRAINEContamination, casualties and the international framework
Treaty status
Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Treaty in 2005, but announced in 2025 its intention to withdraw from the Convention in the context of the Russian invasion and the massive use of anti-personnel mines by Russia, which is not a signatory to the treaty.
Contamination
Ukraine is today regarded as one of the countries most contaminated by explosive ordnance in the world. According to the Ukrainian authorities and national estimates, some 139,000 km² of territory have been affected by the fighting and are suspected or confirmed to be contaminated by mines, explosive remnants of war (ERW) and other unexploded ordnance. The oblasts of Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Sumy and Mykolaiv are among the worst affected areas. The contamination covers farmland, critical infrastructure, residential areas, forests, roads and power networks, as well as underwater areas (rivers, canals and reservoirs).
Casualties
Since February 2022, the Ukrainian authorities have recorded more than 1,300 casualties from explosive ordnance accidents, including several hundred deaths. Men account for most of the casualties, largely because of the exposure of farmers, drivers, labourers and emergency workers. Children also remain particularly exposed in contaminated areas.
Local partners
HAMAP-Humanitaire currently works in partnership with the Ukrainian Deminers Association (UDA), a Ukrainian civil organisation specialising in humanitarian mine action. The partnership aims in particular to support the development of a future Ukrainian humanitarian underwater demining capacity. It is built on capacity building and technical mentoring: UDA delivers the activities on the ground, while HAMAP-Humanitaire provides technical, methodological and organisational support.
Our work in the country
IN UKRAINE
SINCE 2025Humanitarian underwater demining, a pioneering position
Present in Ukraine since 2025, HAMAP-Humanitaire is developing a Mine Action programme built on localisation, capacity building and technical innovation in the service of Ukrainian actors.
Our strategy is to help build lasting national humanitarian clearance capacity, while supporting the gradual structuring of the mine action sector in Ukraine.
Our aim
Helping to build lasting Ukrainian land and underwater clearance capacity, in the service of community safety and the country's reconstruction.
Read more about our work
Within that, HAMAP takes a particularly strong position on developing humanitarian underwater demining, a field still barely structured in the country despite growing needs linked to the contamination of rivers, canals and water infrastructure.
In partnership with the Ukrainian Deminers Association (UDA), a Ukrainian organisation specialising in mine action, HAMAP supports the development of operating procedures, the training of diver-deminers, preparation for accreditation and the strengthening of the partner's technical capacity.
More broadly, our way of working rests on close technical support, skills transfer and delivery led by Ukrainian actors.
In parallel, HAMAP is gradually building its place in the Ukrainian mine action ecosystem, through close coordination with the national authorities, the competent technical institutions and the humanitarian and mine action coordination mechanisms.
In time, HAMAP aims to help build lasting Ukrainian land and underwater clearance capacity, able to sustain the safety of communities, access to land and critical infrastructure, and the reconstruction of the country.
At present, all HAMAP-Humanitaire activities are confined to Kyiv oblast.
Our projects
OUR PROJECT IN UKRAINEPreparing a Ukrainian land and underwater demining capacity
Partners
THEY SUPPORT OUR WORK IN UKRAINE
Our donors and funding partners
Technical insert
The challenges of underwater demining in Ukraine
In Ukraine, explosive contamination affects more than farmland, roads and urban areas. Since the start of the conflict, the fighting has also affected many aquatic environments: rivers, canals, reservoirs, dams, ports and other water infrastructure. Unexploded ordnance, explosive remnants of war and fragments can lie submerged for long periods, sometimes moved by currents or buried in sediment.
This underwater contamination is a major humanitarian and technical challenge. It can affect the safety of people living near watercourses, complicate fishing, navigation and infrastructure maintenance, and act as a significant brake on future reconstruction work. In some areas it can also limit safe access to critical infrastructure or slow the repair of water and energy networks.
Humanitarian underwater demining is still a barely developed field internationally, and a particularly emerging one in Ukraine. Unlike land demining, these operations call for specific skills combining professional diving, explosive risk management, reinforced safety procedures and technical equipment suited to environments that are often complex and have poor visibility.
HAMAP-Humanitaire is currently building dedicated expertise in humanitarian underwater demining in order to help Ukrainian actors develop future national capacity in this strategic field. Through this approach, HAMAP intends both to support the strengthening of specialised local organisations and, in time, to contribute directly to the future humanitarian underwater clearance work needed to make communities and critical infrastructure safe and to enable the country's reconstruction.
SUPPORT OUR
WORK IN UKRAINE
Since 2025, HAMAP-Humanitaire has been supporting the development of lasting Ukrainian land and underwater clearance capacity.
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