UN Warns 13,500 sq km of Ukraine’s Waters Contaminated with Mines, Only 1.4% Cleared

Nearly 13,500 square kilometers (about 5,000 square miles) of Ukraine’s lakes, rivers, and coastal areas are potentially contaminated with explosive remnants of war, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Wednesday.

While the war has largely been fought on land, both Russian and Ukrainian forces have mined coastal regions, and countless unexploded munitions from Russia’s daily aerial attacks have ended up in rivers and the sea.

“An estimated 13,500 square kilometers of Ukraine’s aquatic areas — including the Dnipro River, lakes, and Black Sea coastlines — are potentially contaminated with explosive remnants of war,” the UNDP in Ukraine said in a statement.

So far, only about 1.4 percent of these contaminated waters — roughly the size of Puerto Rico — has been cleared, with around 2,800 explosive devices removed.

Ukraine has deployed underwater robots for de-mining operations, and the UNDP has trained 15 specialist instructors to bolster national capacity.

In August, a mine explosion killed three beachgoers in the Black Sea port city of Odesa after they triggered an explosive while swimming in a restricted area.

After more than a decade of conflict — beginning with Russian-backed separatist fighting in 2014 and intensifying with Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022 — Ukraine has become the most mine-contaminated country in the world.

According to government estimates, around 23 percent of Ukraine’s total territory, or roughly 137,000 square kilometers — an area larger than Greece — remains contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance.