Ukraine

Ten-Year Summary

Ukraine became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 June 2006. Ukraine informed States Parties in May 2009 that it was unlikely that it would be able to meet its 1 June 2010 stockpile destruction deadline. It still possesses 5.95 million PFM-type mines and 149,096 POM-2 mines. It destroyed 101,088 PFM-1 mines in 1999 and 404,903 PMN-type mines in 2002 and 2003, as well as more than 254,000 other antipersonnel mines.

Ukraine has stated that it has no known mined areas on its territory although mines from World War II continue to be found, albeit in small numbers. A much greater problem comes from explosive remnants of war (ERW) left from WWII and from former Soviet bases and military training areas.

Between 1999 and 2008, Landmine Monitor identified at least 115 mine/ERW casualties (55 killed, 57 injured, and three unknown) in Ukraine. Due to lack of comprehensive data collection, these figures may not represent the full scope of the problem. Risk education was provided on an ad hoc basis to emergency personnel and civilians in affected areas. There are no specific victim assistance programs, but war veterans are provided with financial support for medical, rehabilitation, and social services. Access to services remains difficult.

Mine Ban Policy

Ukraine signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 24 February 1999 and ratified on 27 December 2005, becoming a State Party on 1 June 2006. Ukraine has not reported any steps taken to implement the treaty domestically, as required by Article 9.

Ukraine submitted its fourth Article 7 report on 20 April 2009, for the period 20 April 2008 to 20 April 2009.^[1]

Ukraine participated in the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2008 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings held in May 2009. At both meetings, Ukraine made statements on stockpile destruction.

Ukraine has not made known its views on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2, and 3 (joint military operations with states not party, foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and mines retained for training).

Ukraine is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines.^[2] It submitted a national annual report as required by the protocol’s Article 13 on 12 April 2009. Ukraine is also party to CCW Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War; it submitted a national report as required by the protocol’s Article 10 on 24 April 2009.

Ukraine has not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions.^[3]

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and destruction

Ukraine has repeatedly stated that it has not produced antipersonnel mines since its independence.^[4] Ukraine is not known to have exported antipersonnel mines. Its 1999 moratorium on the export of antipersonnel mines was formally in place through 2003, and in practice stayed in effect until the Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for Ukraine.^[5]

Ukraine’s treaty-mandated deadline for the destruction of all stockpiled antipersonnel mines is 1 June 2010. Ukraine informed States Parties in May 2009 that it was unlikely that it would be able to meet the deadline.

Ukraine’s Article 7 reports have presented different information on the quantities and types of stockpiled antipersonnel mines, which in turn are different from previously revealed information, as detailed in the following table.^[6]

Antipersonnel Mines Stockpiled by Ukraine^[7]

Mine Type	Landmine Monitor Report 2006	Art 7 (2006)	Art 7 (2007)	Art 7 (2008)	Art 7 (2009)	May 2009
PFM	5,947,596	5,950,684	5,950,684	5,950,684	5,950,540	5,950,372
POM-2	148,696	149,144	0	149,096	149,096	149,096
OZM-4	4,008	0	4,105	4,105	4,105	N/R
OZM-72	290,177	292,183	292,183	292,183	292,183	N/R
MON-50	3,593	11,687	11,687	11,687	11,687	N/R
MON-90	11,685	2,102	46,248	46,248	46,248	N/R
MON-100	15,645	0	0	0	0	N/R
POMZ-2	38,921	0	0	0	0	N/R
POMZ-2M	204,021	0	0	0	0	N/R
Total	6,664,342	6,405,800	6,304,907	6,454,003	6,453,859	6,099,468

N/R= not reported

Even prior to ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty, Ukraine destroyed 101,088 PFM-1 mines in 1999 and more than 400,000 PMN-type mines in 2002 and 2003.^[8]

In June 2008, Ukraine reported that between 2005 and 2007, an experimental program to partially dismantle and destroy 8,000 POM-2 mines was carried out at the Donetsk Chemical Plant, and a further 48 POM-2 mines were destroyed at the Pavlograd Chemical Plant.^[9]

In a November 2008 presentation, Ukraine indicated it has also destroyed its entire stock of 238,010 POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M mines, as well as all 8,060 PMD-6 mines.^[10] It subsequently informed Landmine Monitor that the destruction took place in 2006.^[11]

In its Article 7 reports submitted in 2007, 2008, and 2009, Ukraine noted that while its MON-type and OZM-type antipersonnel mines can be used in command-detonated mode in compliance with the Mine Ban Treaty, these stockpiled mines are excessive and not suitable for use, and it has plans to destroy them.^[12] The Article 7 report covering 2008 continued to list 296,288 OZM mines and 57,935 MON mines as in the stockpile.^[13]

Destruction of PFM-type mines

The Ministry of Defense destroyed a total of 101,088 PFM-1 mines between March and April 1999 at the Desna Training Center at a cost of €120,000 (US$176,712).^[14] These mines contain a liquid explosive filling (VS6-D) that makes them dangerous and difficult to destroy.

In 2002, the European Commission (EC) launched a project to prepare the destruction of Ukraine’s remaining PFM mines.^[15] However, a contract awarded in December 2005 to a consortium led by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit was terminated on 18 April 2007 at the request of the consortium “on the grounds of non-fulfillment by the [government of Ukraine] of their obligations.”^[16] No mines were destroyed before the end of the contract.

In April 2008, the Mine Ban Treaty’s Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction convened an informal closed consultation on destruction of PFM-type mines—including Ukraine, interested donors, and experts on stockpile destruction—which concluded that Ukraine should pursue more diversified sources of funding to pay for its stockpile destruction programs.^[17]

Ukraine confirmed its determination to comply with its stockpile destruction obligation in a presentation to the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction in June 2008. Ukraine said it had decided to make a national contribution toward the destruction of a portion (about 1.6 million mines) of its PFM stockpile. Ukraine assigned existing facilities and a rotary kiln at the Pavlograd Chemical Plant for this purpose.^[18]

In August 2008, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko requested a renewal of EC assistance, and the EC responded in October by proposing that European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) funds be used.^[19]

In November 2008, Ukraine confirmed that it had provided funds from its state budget to commence the destruction process, and informed States Parties that a 13 November 2008 Presidential Decree set the starting date of 1 December 2008. It said the mines were already being transported to Pavlograd, and it expected to destroy “the first thousands” of PFM mines in February–March 2009.^[20]

However, it stressed that “by its own resources Ukraine is capable to eliminate only the half of its PFM stockpiles in time [by the June 2010 deadline]. Acquisition of additional rotary kiln will make it possible to speed up the destruction process, with the aim of timely fulfilment [sic] of Ukraine’s obligations....Ukraine urges the States Parties to contribute to the provision of financial and technical assistance in order to complete the PFM destruction in Ukraine.”^[21]

Ukraine agreed in January 2009 to an EC assessment mission to visit the existing stockpile destruction facilities, and the expert visit took place in May 2009. ^[22]

In May 2009, Ukraine told States Parties that it is unlikely it will be able to meet its June 2010 deadline. It said that its plans call for the destruction of 1.5 million PFM mines in 2009 and 600,000 more in 2010, but that the plan was being undermined by a lack of financial resources. It appealed to States Parties to find a “joint solution” to the problem and to come up with an option that would “prevent Ukraine from violating the Article 4 deadline.”^[23]

According to Ukraine’s Article 7 report for 2008, a total of 144 PFM mines were destroyed in the reporting period, leaving a total of 5,950,540.^[24] In the May 2009 presentation, Ukraine provided a different number for the stockpiled PFM mines—5,950,372—presumably indicating the destruction of an additional 168 mines.^[25]

Mines retained for training

Ukraine originally indicated it would retain 1,950 mines (950 PMN and 1,000 PMN-2) for training and research purposes.^[26] In its April 2008 Article 7 report, this number was reduced to 223 mines (103 PMN and 120 PMN-2),^[27] with 847 PMN and 880 PMN-2 mines destroyed.^[28] In its Article 7 report submitted in April 2009, Ukraine lists a total of 211 mines retained for training, with 12 PMN mines destroyed.^[29]

Ukraine has not reported in detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of retained mines, as agreed by States Parties in 2004.

Scope of the Problem

Contamination

Ukraine is affected by landmines and ERW, both UXO and abandoned ordnance, mostly as a result of heavy fighting between German and Soviet forces in World War II, but also from World War I, the 1917–1921 civil war, and the Cold War. Ministry of Defense (MoD) engineering forces completed partial clearance of affected areas in the mid-1970s, but demining operations continue to this day. The precise scope of any residual mine problem is not known, but the ERW contamination is extensive. On 21 May 2009, one person died and another was seriously injured as a result of explosion of an item of UXO in Lozovoy district.^[30]

In its Article 7 reports, Ukraine has declared no known or suspected areas containing antipersonnel mines under its jurisdiction or control.^[31] On 28 April 2009, two teenagers died and one was injured as a result of a mine blast in Topolskoe village, Izjumska district, Kharkov province.^[32]

The ERW problem includes World War II ammunition storage areas (ASAs), particularly around the towns of Kerch and Sevastopol where munitions were stored in a horizontal passageway driven into a hill or mountainside known as an “adit.” On 27 August 2008, an ASA belonging to the army’s 61st southern operational command in Lozovoy district, Kharkov province exploded, injuring two men.^[33]

There was also a problem from a former Soviet ASA at Novobohdanovka that exploded in 2004 (now cleared), as well as military training areas used by the Soviet Army, said to affect 1km² of land in Ukraine. Underwater munitions have been found in the Black Sea near Kerch, Odessa, and Sevastopol, including naval mines from World War II.

There are also said to be 34 former Soviet military training areas with residual contamination, which reportedly cover more than 150km² of land.^[34] In 1991–2007, these areas were handed over to the local population and local municipalities, but reportedly without full survey and clearance. There have since been civilian deaths and injuries due to handling of items of UXO.^[35]

Casualties

In 2008, Landmine Monitor identified at least six mine/ERW casualties (one killed, two injured, and three unknown) in four incidents.^[36] The civilian status, gender, and age of three casualties remain unknown, but the other three were male Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) clearance personnel. ERW caused at least three casualties. Activities at the time of the incident include tampering and working on munitions disposal. Casualties were recorded in Novobohdanovka in Zaporizhia province, in Kriviy Rih city in Dnipropetrovsk province, in Kremenchuk City in Poltava province, and in Odessa, Odessa province.

The 2008 casualty rate is a decrease compared to 2007 (14 ERW casualties; five killed and nine injured),^[37] and 2006 (10 casualties; seven killed and three injured),^[38] but with incomplete data collection, casualties may have been unreported.

Casualties continued to be reported in 2009, with at least two casualties (one injured and one killed) as of 31 May 2009.^[39] On 21 May 2009, one person was killed and one injured while tampering with an unknown device in the village of Katerynivka in Kharkov province.^[40]

The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Ukraine is unknown. The MES reported that between 1996 and 2008 there were 229 ERW casualties (100 killed and 129 injured), including 59 children, due to “handling of devices.” No further information was available.^[41] Between 2000 and 2008, Landmine Monitor identified at least 115 casualties (55 killed, 57 injured, and three unknown). There was no reliable data for 1999. While it is difficult to obtain detailed information on incidents in Ukraine, it appears that the majority of civilian casualties are due to ERW, and activities at the time of the incident include collecting scrap metal and tampering. According to UN data, between 1945 and 1995, more than 1,500 civilians were killed by mines in Ukraine, and 130 deminers have been killed during clearance operations. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979–1989), 3,360 Ukrainians were killed and reportedly every sixth death was the result of a mine explosion.

The total number of Ukrainian mine/ERW casualties that have occurred abroad remains unknown. In 2005, eight Ukrainian military personnel were killed in a command-detonated mine blast in Iraq and seven other Ukrainians were injured. In July 2006, two Ukrainian peacekeepers were injured by a mine or similar device in Iraq. In October 2006, one Ukrainian citizen was killed and one injured in Iraq. In 2006, in Senegal, one Ukrainian taking part in a humanitarian mission was injured by an antivehicle mine. In March 2007, two Ukrainian employees working for a gas company in Algeria were injured when the company bus hit a mine.

The government of Ukraine estimates there are 2.4 to 2.7 million persons with disabilities in Ukraine.^[42]

Risk profile

People are at risk from abandoned unexploded ordnance. Children, particularly teenagers, regularly find and tamper with UXO in Artemovsk, Kerch, Kharkov, Kiev, Novobohdanovka, Sevastopol, and Vinnytsya.^[43]

Program Management and Coordination

An interministerial working group was set up by the Cabinet of Ministers in February 2006. There is no specific victim assistance (VA) strategy, and mine/ERW survivors receive the same services as other persons with disabilities in Ukraine. The State Department for Veterans Affairs coordinates policy on war veterans and victims. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Science and Education are responsible for disability issues.^[44]

Data collection and management

In 2001, the armed forces set up a demining center at the Military Engineering Institute of Podolsk Agrar Technical University. Since 2007, the center has been collecting and analyzing data on explosive hazards and demining.^[45]

There is no comprehensive casualty data collection in Ukraine. The main source of information remains media reports and MES daily reports, which report information on a variety of emergency situations, including mine/ERW incidents.^[46] From 2004 to July 2007, the NGO Ukrainian Mine Action Coordination Center collected casualty data from media reports, but it is unknown if data is still collected.

Plans

Strategic mine action plans

On 31 January 2007, the Cabinet of Ministers issued Decree No. 75, “Program for the period of 2007–2010 for destruction of explosive devices on the territory of Kerch and Sevastopol since World War II.”^[47] On 18 February 2009, the Cabinet of Ministers issued Decree 131, “State Target Social Program for Anti-mine Activity in 2009–2014,” which seeks to address the problems of affected territories.^[48] The decree sets out requirements and allocates responsibilities for survey and clearance of affected areas. It calls for the civilian population to be given training on how to respond to explosive devices they may encounter.^[49] It also provides the basis for reconstruction of affected regions.^[50]

National mine action legislation

A series of decrees and orders have been adopted to regulate mine action in Ukraine. In accordance with a December 1997 Decree from the Cabinet of Ministers and a Joint Order of the ministries of defense, emergency situations, and transport and communications, and the Border Guard Service of 27 May 2008, mine action responsibilities have been allocated among the various state structures concerned (see Demining and battle area clearance section below).

National mine action standards/Standing operating procedures

The state company Ukroboronservice has its own standing operating procedures, which it claims meet the requirements of the International Mine Action Standards. They were first concluded in 2003, updated in 2005, and again in 2008, when new chapters on battle area clearance and mine/ERW risk education were added.^[51]

Demining and Battle Area Clearance

In accordance with Cabinet of Ministers Decree No. 2294 of 11 December 1999 and a Joint Order of 27 May 2008,^[52] the MES is generally responsible for clearance of affected territories, with the exception of those allocated to the other ministries and bodies. The MoD is responsible for all areas where military units, educational institutions, companies, or organizations belonging to the armed forces are permanently located. Ukroboronservice acts as a subcontractor for the MoD and MES in survey and disposal of ERW in Ukraine. The company also conducts survey and clearance of construction sites.^[53]

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) is responsible for the transport system, with the help of the MoD and MES. The national Border Guard Service conducts demining (disclosure, destruction, and disposal) in areas under its control on land and in the sea.^[54]

In 2007, the MES created a demining center within its Central Rescue Unit, which trains deminers in Explosive Ordnance Disposal Levels 1 and 2. A similar center was created in 2001 by the MoD in Kamenez-Podolskiy in the west of the country, which includes training in the use of mine detection dogs.^[55] 

Demining and battle area clearance results for 2008 are set out in the table below.

Demining and battle area clearance results for 2008^[56]

Operator	Area cleared (km2)	Mines destroyed	ERW destroyed
MES	2.55	408	116,127
MoD	4.74	0	491
Ukroboronservice	0.30	12	274*

* Transferred to MES for destruction.

Following the 27 August 2008 explosion at the ASA close to the town of Lozovaya in Lozovoy district, almost 14,000 people were evacuated.^[57] On 29 August, clearance teams from the MoD began clearing in a 5km zone around the ASA. Twelve demining teams were said to be engaged in clearance.^[58] Clearance was completed on 28 November 2008, with a total area clearance of 6.65km² and the destruction of 45,573 items of UXO.^[59]

Progress since becoming a State Party

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Ukraine is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 June 2016. In Form I of its annual Article 7 reports, Ukraine stated that “There are no antipersonnel landmines (not even potentially) in the regions under the jurisdiction or the control of Ukraine.”^[60]

Risk Education

In 2008, risk education (RE) continued to be provided on an ad hoc basis. The MES provided limited awareness messages for emergency personnel and civilians in ERW-affected areas as a part of its role in “[sic] preventive measures, minimization of other emergency consequences, [sic] and cleaning areas from the old munitions.”^[61] The number of people reached is unknown.

From 1999 to 2008 there was no systematic RE, but limited awareness messages were provided by deminers from the MoD and the MES, and by the Ukrainian Mine Action Information Center. In 2007, it was reported that the Ukrainian Red Cross Society trained some instructors.

Victim Assistance

The total number of survivors is unknown, but there are at least 130.^[62] Ukraine provides war veterans with financial support for medical, rehabilitation, and social services. However, veterans reported that pensions are meager and medical care poor.^[63] Rehabilitation centers provide prosthetics, orthotics, and other assistive devices to war veterans and other persons with disabilities. The main institutions for assistance of mine/ERW survivors are the Social Rehabilitation Center in Kiev and the “Ukrprotez” State Corporation.^[64] The Ukrainian Rehabilitation Center of Afghanistan Veterans, a private center in Kiev, also serves war veterans and other persons with disabilities.^[65]

As the majority of public buildings remain inaccessible, access to healthcare, transportation, education, and employment remains difficult.^[66] In 2008, a government audit reported that “the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy failed to implement the State policy as regards development of new types of orthopaedic products for the disabled, and their timely manufacture.”^[67] In 2009, the Rehabilitation Center of Afghanistan Veterans denounced the lack of rehabilitation and psychological care centers in Ukraine.^[68] Since December 2008, persons with disabilities have been entitled to free travel on the underground railway in Kiev.^[69] Special education is limited and a large number of children with disabilities do not go to school.^[70]

From January to October 2008, 7,571 persons with disabilities found jobs through government employment placement services, and in the academic year 2007–2008, 12,262 students with disabilities were enrolled in vocational and academic institutions of higher learning.^[71]

In September 2008, the Public Employment Service of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, with assistance from UNDP and the International Labor Organization, launched a program on “Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities through Access to Employment.” The program, which will run until September 2009, aims to “facilitate a proactive inclusion of people with disabilities in the open labour market…”^[72]

The ICRC did not report progress in the establishment of a rapid response trauma unit in 2007, as recommended by the evaluation it conducted together with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society in 2006. The unit was to address the psychological needs of children affected by explosions at ASAs in southern Ukraine.^[73]

Ukraine has not reported on victim assistance in any of its Article 7 reports.

Ukraine has legislation prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to healthcare, and other state services, but enforcement of provisions was hampered by lack of resources.^[74] On 24 September 2008, Ukraine signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol; neither had been ratified as of 1 July 2009.

Support for Mine Action

Landmine Monitor is not aware of comprehensive long-term cost estimates for meeting mine action needs (including RE and VA) in Ukraine. In 2005, the EC awarded a contract valued at €5,910,000 ($8.7 million) to cover costs for destruction of all PFM-type and non-PFM-type stockpiled mines.^[75] The contract was cancelled prior to completion in 2007. As no cost estimate has since been reported, the original contract value remains the closest known estimate for stockpile destruction in Ukraine.

National support for mine action

No specific national funding for mine action was reported by Ukraine in 2008, nor was national funding reported in 2007. In April 2008, Ukraine stated its commitment to cover a portion of the costs associated with destruction of half its PFM-type mines, but did not commit a specific amount or report timelines for its allocation of funds.^[76] In November 2008, Ukraine reported that it had provided funds from the state budget for the start of destruction of its stock of PFM mines but did not specify when or what amount of funds were allocated.^[77]

International cooperation and assistance

No international funding was reported for mine action in Ukraine in 200 or 2007.

In April 2008, the EC stated its willingness to continue supporting Ukraine’s stockpile destruction efforts, but with an emphasis on capacity-building.^[78] Between August 2008 and May 2009, Ukraine and the EC continued to assess the possibility of EC assistance for Ukraine’s stockpile destruction program.

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