Key developments
since March 1999: The start of Ukraine’s stockpile destruction
program has been delayed beyond the original target of the year 2000. Full
destruction is now contemplated in 2007. In 1999, an International Demining
Training Center was created, the Ministry of Defense formed a demining company
for domestic and foreign demining operations, and the non-governmental Ukrainian
Mine Action Information Center was established. Ukraine ratified CCW Amended
Protocol II (Landmines) on 21 September 1999.
Mine Ban Policy
The key stumbling block to Ukraine’s
immediate and full embrace of the Treaty has been concern about its ability to
bear the costs of destroying its significant mine stockpile within the required
four years. After months of diplomatic and technical discussions, on 28 January
1999 Ukraine signed an agreement with Canada regarding cooperation in the
destruction of the
stockpiles.[1] On the same day,
President Leonid Kuchma declared that Ukraine would join the Mine Ban Treaty and
in less than a month, on 24 February 1999, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada
signed the treaty at the United Nations.
Although work has continued to be able to carry out the terms of the
agreement on destruction of stocks, the Parliament has not made any move toward
ratification of the treaty. As a first step, the Parliament must ratify the
agreement between the government and Canada on stockpile destruction; technical
questions and problems regarding the procedure for the destruction are yet to be
resolved. The current position of the government is that ratification of the
treaty itself will only be considered after the first stage of the bilateral
program for stockpile destruction has been
completed.[2]
Ukraine continues to participate in relevant landmine meetings. The
government delegation to the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo in May
1999 was headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The government also
participated in nearly every ban treaty intersessional meeting. Representatives
from Ukraine attended regional conferences on landmines held in Zagreb in June
of 1999, Tbilisi in December of 1999, and in Minsk in February of 2000.
Ukraine voted in favor of the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution in
support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had in 1997 and 1998.
Ukraine ratified Amended Protocol II (Landmines) to the 1980 Convention on
Conventional Weapons on 21 September 1999, and opted for the nine-year delay in
implementation of key provisions. It took part in both the preparatory meeting
in May 1999 and the First Annual Conference of State Parties to Amended Protocol
II to the CCW in Geneva in December 1999.
The military determined that to be in compliance with Amended Protocol II, it
would have to destroy 1.146 million PFM mines and 6 million PFM-1S mines,
because they do not meet the technical requirements of the protocol. The
military considers that the following mines, if adapted with Soviet-made manual
control devices, would be in compliance: POMZ-2, POMZ-2М, OZM-4, OZM-72,
and MON. The adapting devices (23,300 complete sets of a type VKPM and 42,300
complete sets of VKPM) would cost U.S. $2.7 million. Ministries responsible for
carrying out the obligations under the Amended Protocol include the Ministries
of Defense, Industrial Policy, and Foreign
Affairs.[3]
As a member of the Conference on Disarmament, Ukraine has supported its
negotiation of a transfer ban.
Production and Transfer
Under the Soviet Union, Ukraine produced
components for Soviet
landmines.[4] Representatives
of the Ukrainian government and military have repeatedly stated in a number of
fora that the country does not manufacture landmines and has not since
independence.[5]
A 1993 U.S. State Department communiqué identified Ukraine as an
exporter of antipersonnel mines, though Landmine Monitor is unaware of any
documented cases of transfer since
independence.[6] Ukraine
enacted a moratorium on the export of antipersonnel mines from August 1995 to
September 1999.[7] That
moratorium was extended through
2003.[8] It is not believed
that Ukraine has imported AP mines, having inherited such large stocks from the
USSR.
Stockpiling
Ukraine has approximately 10.1 million AP mines in
its stockpiles, inherited after the disintegration of the Soviet
Union.[9] Weapons, including
landmines, had been stored at the North (Kiev), South (Odessa) and West
(Prikarpatskiy) Military
Districts.[10] The following
types of AP mines have been reported in the Ukrainian stockpile: PMN, PMN-2,
PMN-4, OZM-72, MON-50, MON-90, MON-100, MON-200, KSF-l cluster bomb with PFM-1
AP mines, KPOM-2 cluster bomb with POM-2 AP mines, PFM-lS, and the
POM-2.[11]
In March 1998, Ukraine destroyed 101,028 PFM-1 landmines from the Ukrainian
Army arsenals on the proving ground near
Kiev.[12] Based on experience
destroying mines such as the PFM-1, Ukraine has concerns about environmental
safety when destroying
mines.[13] The preliminary
information released by the Ministry of Ecological and Nuclear Safety of Ukraine
after the destruction of landmines has shown that the pollution of the
environment exceeds by hundreds or more times the permissible norms and
standards of pollution. [14]
The main pollutants are oxide of aluminum, lead containing residues, and cyanide
of hydrogen (cyanhydric acid). The range of area polluted by hazardous
substances when burning one box with PFM -1 cassettes ranged from 0.3 up to 6.7
kilometers, for 10 boxes ranged from 1 up to 21.2 kilometers.[15]
Under the January 1999 agreement, Canada will be providing financial and
technical support for destruction. Under the terms of the agreement, Canada and
Ukraine are to choose a company to destroy the stockpiles and draft a contract
to begin work. Environmental assessment and financial and technical verification
mechanisms are also being developed. It had been hoped that a destruction plan
would be announced in 1999, but this did not occur. The delay will push back
the anticipated initiation of stock destruction beyond the original target of
the year 2000. [16]
From the Ukrainian side, Sodruzhestvo Corporation, which carried out trial
runs in 1999 to check the technology for the destruction of a sample of one type
of PMN landmine,[17] agreed to
participate, but a Canadian counterpart has not yet been selected. Ukraine
created a special team headed by Lt. Gen. Vorobiyov, Commander of the Engineer
Forces, to select the Canadian participant in the joint project. In the autumn -
winter of 1999-2000 two Canadian companies, Taron, Inc., and Katridis, presented
their proposals to representatives of the Ukrainian Interdepartmental Workgroup
on salvaging mines in Kiev.
[18]
Two main steps in the destruction process are contemplated. During the first
stage, from 2000-2003, the technical plans for stock destruction would be
developed and the industrial facilities for the destruction built. The cost of
developing the technology and the industrial capacity for the destruction could
reach U.S. $5.5 million. During the second stage, from 2003-2007, destruction of
landmines would be carried
out.[19] Estimates of cost of
destruction cannot be confidently made until technology for destruction is
clearly determined. But it seems that the cost of destroying the PFMs alone
could be between U.S.$ 10-15
million.[20] The Ministry of
Industrial Policy is responsible for the development and implementation of the
agreement for destruction of stocks.
On 28 October 1999, through NATO’s “Partnership for Peace”
(PfP) program, Canada proposed cooperation in the destruction of Ukrainian
landmines. On 11 November 1999 in Brussels, during a session of the Political -
Military Steering Committee of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC),
cooperation measures within the current PfP program were discussed, including
information on location and safety of mines. Some NATO countries supported the
proposals of Canada, but the USA did not support revealing locations and safety
of stocks. [21]
Use
The Ukraine Ministry of Defense states that AP
mines have not been used on Ukrainian territory since WWII. However, Ukrainian
police have recorded individual cases of landmine use for criminal purposes. In
1999 there were 220 explosive incidents in Ukraine and the police confiscated
more than 1,055 explosive
devices.[22] According to
Ukrainian experts, one half of all mines, manual explosive devices and other
explosives confiscated were in the Odessa area, at the Moldova and Pridnestrovie
borders.[23]
Mine Clearance
Ukraine is still affected by mines and unexploded
ordnance from World War II. The demining of Ukrainian territory is carried out
by the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the Bombs
Disposal Division of the Ministry of Interior's Special Police Demining Teams
(SPDT). The Secret Service of Ukraine also has a demining
unit.[24] (See also LM
Report 1999, pp. 759-760.)
For clearance purposes, Ukrainian territory is divided into 497 areas of
responsibility; of these, the Ministry of Defense is responsible for demining
442 areas, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations is responsible for demining
in the remaining fifty-five
areas.[25]
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has 135 demining teams, of which 12-13 teams
work daily to clear mines and UXO. According to MoD reports, its teams cleared
13,436 mines and UXO in 1999.
[26] The Ministry of Emergency
Situations Demining Teams collected 4,430 mines and UXO in 1999. The cost of
maintaining one demining team is about U.S.
$500.[27]
Mine Awareness
There are no systematic mine awareness programs in
Ukraine. During mine clearance operations, deminers meet with the local
population and educate them on the rules of behavior when they come across a
UXO. In the Kiev area in 1999, children discovered more than 600 air bombs,
shells, mines and UXOs from WWII, all of which were immediately
neutralized.[28]
After a series of “terrorist acts” in Russia from 9-13 September
1999, the President of Ukraine issued a special directive to the police,
Ministry of Defense and other central bodies to carry out preventive measures,
directed at the strengthening of public safety and providing mine awareness
education. Special Police Demining Teams (SPDT) of the Ministry of the
Interior’s Bomb Disposal Division made 734 mine awareness presentations in
Ukrainian mass media.[29]
In 1999 the Ukrainian Mine Action Information Center (UMAIC) was formed. It
is composed of members of the Ukrainian Peacekeepers Veterans Association
(UPVA), which has branches and representatives in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk,
Vinnitsa, Odessa, Ternopol, Zhitomir and other cites in Ukraine. The Center is
to become a focal point for collecting, analyzing and disseminating information
about victim assistance, refugee resettlement, and other landmine-related
issues. Through conferences and seminars, UMAIC seeks to educate the
government, military and general public about landmine related
issues.[30]
International Demining Programs
In 1999 an International Demining Training Center
was created in the town of Kamenets Podolsk, Ukraine. The main task of the
Center is to train foreign personnel for demining
operations.[31] A group from
Nigeria was trained at the Center in September/October
1999.[32] The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs sent a delegation on a working trip to West Africa. In meetings
with Senegal, that government considered the possibility of cooperating with
Ukraine in training of personnel in mine
clearance.[33]
The Ministry of Defense created a demining company, Podolskvzrivprom, for
participation in domestic and foreign demining operations. The major
Ukrainian state arms trader, Ukrspetsexport, has been working to support the
demining company in creating joint demining programs in foreign
countries.[34] In 1999, the
Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explored with the EC, WEU, and others the
possibility of participation in foreign demining operations. One of the main
problems for Ukraine is that it adheres to old Soviet standards; UN standards
for mine clearance are not followed in Ukraine.
[35]
Ukraine is active in research and development of new mine detection
technologies. In 1997 a joint Ukrainian - Turkish research laboratory, located
in Marmara, Turkey, was created for this purpose. The laboratory is managed by
the Ukrainian Ministry of Science and Education, and the Turkish Ministry of
Defense.[36] Additionally, the
Ukrainian Space Agency, Magellan, has a special project for research on the
development of technology for the detection of mines from aircraft and
helicopters.[37]
Landmine Survivor Assistance
An estimated 1,500 civilians have been killed by
mines and UXO since 1945.[38]
There are an estimated 80,000 mine and UXO victims in Ukraine
today.[39]
The main institution for assistance to mine victims is the Social
Rehabilitation Center in Kiev, which provides artificial upper and lower limb
orthopedic goods, and works in close contact with the Otto Bock company in
Germany.[40] The country also
has thirty hospitals for veterans and war
victims.[41]
Ukraine has enacted laws providing measures on social rehabilitation of
disabled people and a Special Council for the disabled was created in May
1999.[42] The Council is made
up of representatives of the main ministries along with representatives of the
main non-governmental and veteran organizations of Ukraine, which are active on
issues related to war victims and the disabled. (See also, LM Report
1999, p. 761.)
Of the estimated 80,000 mine victims in Ukraine, 20,000 need prosthetic
devices.[43] Of the U.S. $20
million budgeted in 1999 for the Ukrainian State Fund for Social Protection of
the Disabled, only 50% was
available.[44] In the November
1999 meeting of the CIS in Kiev, Ukraine sought partners for joint cooperation
to create national landmine victims support programs under the Mine Ban
Treaty.[45]
On 3 December 1999 President Leonid Kuchma took part in the annual activities
marking the World Day of the Disabled, which also coincided with the anniversary
of the signing of the Ottawa Convention. During his visit to the Ukrainian
Campaign to Ban Landmines exhibit, the President stated that the country will
make every effort to expand social protection for war victims and the disabled.
The Landmine Monitor Report 1999 was presented to the President at that
time.
During 1999 in Ukraine the Russian victims of war in the Chechen Republic
have been given prosthetic assistance.
Ukraine has initiated the development of a program of humanitarian
cooperation with Pakistan and Afghanistan for assistance and medical
rehabilitation for mine victims. In late March 2000, a Ukrainian delegation led
by the Maj. General Sergey Chervonopisky, Chairman of State Department for
Veterans Affairs, visited Pakistan. Ukraine has offered to Pakistan and
Afghanistan, pursuant to the Mine Ban Treaty, joint cooperation between
government and non-governmental agencies for support to war victims and for
prosthetic repair. Toward this end, Ukraine has planned to send to Pakistan
mobile field medical groups, which have new technologies for prosthetic work and
conduct workshops.[46]
[1] “Memorandum on Mutually
Beneficial Cooperation Between the Government of Canada and the Government of
Ukraine on Destruction of Antipersonnel Landmines Stockpiled by the Armed Forces
of Udraine and Prohibited by the [Mine Ban Treaty],” 28 January
1999. [2] Interview with Mr. Yuri
Polurez, Deputy of Head Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22
January 2000. [3]
Ibid. [4] Annual Report, Ukrainian
Peacekeepers Veterans Association (UPVA),
1999. [5] These have included statements
by Ambassador Volodymyr Furkalo at the Treaty Signing Conference, Ottawa,
Canada, 4 December 1997; by Mykhailo Osnach, Representative of Ukraine at the
Budapest Regional Conference, 26-28 March 1998; and by Colonel M. Mikhailenko,
Ukrainian Engineers Corps, Minsk Landmine Conference, 6-7 March
2000. [6] U.S. Department of State,
Outgoing Telegram, 7 December 1993. [7]
United Nations, Country Report: Ukraine, at
http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/ukraine.htm. [8]
Order of PM, #426, 22 March 1999. [9]
Mine Action Database, Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade. While 10.1 million is the commonly accepted number of the stockpile,
other Ukrainian sources have put the number at 9.6 million and Sergey
Pashinskiy, Head of Ukrainian Mine Action Center, put it as high as 11 million
speaking at the Minsk International landmines Conference in March 2000.
Informal estimates have put the number of PFMs close to nine million and an
additional one million for PMNs. [10]
Statement by Sergey Pashinskiy, Head of Ukrainian Mine Action Center, Minsk
International Landmine Conference, 6-7 March
2000. [11] Military Parade
magazine. [12] General Volodymyr
Vorobiov, Head of the Corps of Engineers, 28 April
1998. [13] Statement by Colonel M.
Mikhailenko, Minsk Landmine
Conference. [14]
Ibid. [15]
Ibid. [16] Government of Canada, DFAIT,
“Safe Lane,” #10, Winter 1999-2000; Statement by Sergey Pashinskiy,
Head of Ukrainian Mine Action Center, Minsk, 6-7 March
2000. [17] Statement by Sergey
Pashinskiy, Ukrainian Mine Action Center, Minsk, 6-7 March
2000. [18]
Ibid. [19] Information provided to
Landmine Monitor by Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Ukraine. [20]
Ibid. [21] Report of joint meeting of
the delegation of Ukraine to NATO and the Political-Military Steering Committee
of Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Council, 11 November
1999. [22] “Vibuho-tehnichna
sluzba,” Militia of Ukraine, #4, April 2000, p.
12. [23] Vladimir Shirochenko,
“The thieves are handing arms to the thieves,”Argumenti I Fakti
(newspaper) 20 January 2000. [24] Report
of General Volodymyr Vorobiov, Head of the Corps of Engineers, 28 April
1998. [25]
Ibid. [26] Statement by Colonel
M.Mikhailenko, Minsk Landmine
Conference. [27] Demining Annual Report,
The Ministry of Emergency Situations,
1999. [28] ElVisti analytic group, Doc.
# 1084218, November 1999. [29]
“Vibuho-tehnichna sluzba, ” Militia of the Ukraine, # 4, April 2000,
p. 12. [30] Statement by Sergey
Pashinskiy, Minsk Landmine
Conference. [31] Statement by Colonel
M.Mikhailenko, Minsk Landmine
Conference. [32]
Ibid. [33] “ INTERFAX
–UKRAINE” news agency, 22. September
1999. [34] Statement by Colonel M.
Mikhailenko, Conference Minsk, 6-7 March
2000. [35] Annual Report, UPVA,
1999. [36] Report of Alexey Vertiy, Head
of Ukrainian - Turkish landmines scientific – research laboratory, 18 May
1999. [37] Alexander Koshchenko,
“MAGELLAN” Annual Report,
1999. [38] See Landmine Monitor Report
1999, p. 761, for more details on
casualties. [39] “INTERFAX
–UKRAINE”- news agency, 12 October
1999. [40] After a visit to a Ukrainian
center for prosthetic repair for veterans of the war in Afghanistan, by
Presidential order all state prosthetics plants should use Otto Bock technology.
Tretiy Tost (newspaper), State Department for Veterans Affairs, February
1999. [41] Uryadoviy Currier (The
Government Courier/newspaper), 10 February
2000. [42] Order of the Government of
Ukraine, No. 925, 27 May 1999. [43]
“INTERFAX –UKRAINE”- news agency, 12 October
1999. [44] Annual Report , Labor and
Social Policy Ministry, 1999. [45]
Report of the Ukrainian State Committee for Veterans Affairs, 15 November
1999. [46] The Order of the President of
Ukraine, # 1-14/1736, December 1999.
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