Ukraine
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties
Casualties Overview
|
All known casualties by end 2012 |
At least 1,987 (1,778 killed; 209 injured) |
|
Casualties in 2013 |
Unknown (2012: 22) |
As of 1 December 2014 Ukraine had not submitted a Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol V Article 10 report for calendar year 2013; therefore the number of annual casualties in 2013 due to explosive remnants of war (ERW) leftover from World War II was unknown.
In mid-2014, several unconfirmed reports of casualties from landmines were reported in Luhansk province, although the incidents remained unverified as of 1 December 2014. In June 2014, it was reported that six border guards were injured by a landmine.[1] On 3 July 2014, one person was reported killed and another injured by a mine at Luhansk airport.[2] On 7 July 2014, it was reported that a tractor drove over a mine, killing the driver.[3]
The Monitor has recorded at least 1,987 mine/ERW casualties (1,778 killed; 209 injured) in the Ukraine to the end of 2012.[4] The UN reported that more than 1,500 civilians were killed in Ukraine between 1945 and 1995 in mine/ERW incidents. Another 130 people were killed during clearance operations in the same period.[5] The Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) reported that between 1996 and 2008 there were 229 ERW casualties (100 killed; 129 injured), including 59 children, due to “handling of devices.”[6]
Cluster munition casualties
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that during the use of cluster munitions in Ukraine in 2014 “cluster munitions killed at least 6 people and injured dozens.”[7]
Victim Assistance
The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Ukraine is not known.
Media reports indicated that tampering with ERW was a significant cause of casualties.[8] Many mine survivors are thought to be veterans of the Soviet Army, injured during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979–1989).
There is no specific victim assistance strategy, and mine/ERW survivors receive the same services as other persons with disabilities or other disabled veterans. The State Committee on Veterans of Ukraine coordinates policy on war veterans.[9]
Disability issues are the responsibility of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy; the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports; the Ministry of Health; and the Ministry of Education and Science.[10]
Ukraine ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 4 February 2010.
[1] “APC with border guards was blown up by mine in Luhansk Oblast,” UNIAN, 1 July 2014.
[2] “At Lugansk airport two persons are victims of a landmine,” UNIAN (in Russian), 3 July2014.
[3] “Tymchuk: a tractor drove on a mine in the Luhansk region, the driver is killed,” Info Resist blog, 7 July 2014.
[4] The cumulative casualties are calculated using UN data for 1945–1995 (1,500 civilians; 130 deminers killed), Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) data for 1996–2008 (100 killed; 129 injured), and CCW Protocol V Article 10 report data for 2009–2011 (42 killed; 64 injured). See also previous Ukraine country profiles for 2010 and 2011 available on the Monitor website.
[5] ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-Free World (New York: Human Rights Watch, April 1999).
[6] Monitor analysis of MES, “Daily Reports,” for calendar year 2008.
[7] HRW, “Ukraine: Widespread Use of Cluster Munitions,” 20 October 2014.
[8] The total includes 2009–2010 casualty data and Monitor analysis of MES, “Daily Reports,” from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008.
[9] Ukraine Government Portal, “State Committee on Veterans of Ukraine,” undated
[10] United States (US) Department of State, “2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Ukraine,” Washington, DC, 11 March 2010.