LM Report 2005

Ukraine

Key developments since May 2004: Ukraine’s parliament ratified the Mine Ban Treaty in May 2005, but Ukraine had not officially deposited its ratification with the UN as of September 2005. The European Commission decided in 2004 to fund the destruction of Ukraine’s 5.9 million PFM mines, and in June 2005, following ratification, announced that it had concluded negotiation of the terms of reference for a €6 million (US$7.5 million) project to destroy the mines. Ukraine officially ratified CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war in May 2005.

Mine Ban Policy

Ukraine signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 24 February 1999. On 18 May 2005, parliament approved draft law No. 0253 on the ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty.^[1] Immediately after the vote, the President of Ukraine signed the ratification law.^[2] As of September 2005, the instrument of ratification had still not been officially deposited with the United Nations. The reasons for the delay are not known.

Ukraine has long expressed its support for a comprehensive ban on antipersonnel mines, and has been an active participant in the Mine Ban Treaty process from the beginning. Ukraine has voted in favor of every annual UN General Assembly resolution calling for the universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty since 1997, including UNGA Resolution 59/84 in December 2004.

Ukraine attributes the long period between signing and ratifying the treaty to its need for financial and technical assistance to destroy its large stockpile of dangerous PFM antipersonnel mines within the deadline required by the treaty. Following parliament’s passage of the ratification law, the European Commission (EC) and Ukraine agreed on the terms of reference for a €6 million (US$7.5 million) program to destroy the PFM mines (see below).

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ihor Dolhov led Ukraine’s observer delegation to the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Nairobi in November-December 2004, and made a statement during the high level segment. Ukraine also participated in the intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2005, where Deputy Minister of Defense Volodymyr Tereschenko reaffirmed his country’s determination to fulfill all of the obligations of the Mine Ban Treaty.^[3] Ukraine made statements to the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention and the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction.^[4]

Ukraine is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). On 19 May 2005, Ukraine deposited its instrument of ratification for Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. It ratified Amended Protocol II on landmines on 15 December 1999, at which time it deferred compliance with Amended Protocol II’s requirements for self-destruction and self-deactivation of remotely delivered antipersonnel mines for nine years.^[5] It attended the annual meeting of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2004 and submitted a national annual report as required by Article 13.

Production, Transfer and Use

Ukraine produced components for Soviet mines, but the government has repeatedly stated that Ukraine has not been involved in production since its independence.^[6] Ukraine’s 1999 moratorium on export of antipersonnel mines was formally in place through 2003.^[7] In June 2003, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said that it was not necessary to extend the moratorium as the government intended to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty in the near future.^[8] In May 2004, the government stated that the moratorium is still in effect and will stay in effect until Ukraine ratified the Mine Ban Treaty.^[9] Ukrainian police continue to record individual cases of criminal use of landmines.^[10]

Stockpiling and Destruction

Ukraine inherited a stockpile of 6.35 million antipersonnel mines, including 404,903 PMN-type mines and 5,947,596 PFM-type mines, from the Soviet Union. Destruction of all of the PMN mines took place from July 2002 to May 2003 under a Canadian-led NATO Trust Fund project.^[11]

A total of 101,088 PFM-1 mines were destroyed between March and April 1999 at the Desna Training Center by the Ministry of Defense at a cost of €120,000 (some $150,000). After an analysis of the consequences of this destruction, Ukraine decided it was necessary to destroy the remaining PFM mines in a safer and more environmentally-friendly manner.^[12]

The EC launched a project in 2002 to prepare the destruction of Ukraine’s PFM mines. In mid-2003, an EC technical study determined that the condition of the PFM stockpiles was good; the mines have since been consolidated into two sites, from a previous total of 13 storage locations.^[13] In 2004, the EC completed a research project that assessed destruction methodologies, and then took a decision to commit sufficient funds for the destruction of the PFM mines.^[14] In June 2005, the EC announced that it had concluded the negotiation of the terms of reference of a €6 million ($7.5 million) project to destroy the mines.^[15] The EC also reported in June 2005 that it had finalized the tender procedures to destroy the mines and had released a request for proposals to industry.^[16]

Landmine/UXO Problem and Mine Action

Ukraine remains affected by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from World War II.^[17] In addition, many ammunition depots are overstocked and located in immediate proximity to densely populated areas.^[18] On 6 May 2004, an ammunition depot caught fire at Novobohdanovka in Zaporizhya region causing 92,000 tons of ammunition to explode.^[19] The explosions sprayed debris and shells several kilometers away from the depot, destroying more than 300 homes and buildings in six villages within 40 kilometers of the explosion site.^[20] On 6 May 2005, nine ammunition depots in Cvetoha, Khmelnitskiy oblast, exploded following a fire. The Minister of Defense Eugene Marchuk remarked there are 184 similar arms depots in Ukraine that are overfilled by 110 to 120 percent.^[21]

There is no formal mine action program in Ukraine. Clearance of World War II mines and ordnance is carried out by demining specialists from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Bomb Disposal Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

After the May 2004 Novobohdanovka explosion, Ministry of Defense explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operations cleared more than 220,000 UXO from the area.^[22] Following the May 2005 explosion in Cvetoha, the Ministry of Defense cleared 38,000 UXO by July 2005.^[23]

In 2004, the Ministry of Emergency Situations conducted 2,400 emergency operations, including demining and EOD; some 900 tons of old ammunition and eight tons of UXO were collected during that process. Some 52,000 mines and UXO were cleared in Ukraine in 2004, of which 39,000 were cleared by the Ministry of Emergency Situations and 13,000 by the Ministry of Defense.^[24]

In the Crimea region, from May 2004 to April 2005, the Ministry of Emergency Situations conducted operations to destroy 900 tons of UXO on the Azov Sea coast in Biliy district of Kerch, and 480 tons of munitions stored in caves during previous conflicts in the Inkerman district of Sevastopol. In 2004, the government allocated UAH2,650,000 (about US$500,000) for a five-year mine clearance program in the Crimea.^[25]

The Transimpex Company also conducted survey, mine clearance and EOD in Kerch and Sevastopol in 2004 and 2005 for the Ministry of Emergency Situations; both areas are affected by explosive remnants or war (ERW) and UXO.^[26] As of September 2005, Transimpex had collected 1,527 UXO while searching 10,446 square meters.^[27]

On 11 May 2005, Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations sent an official request to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) for the “organization” of a “General Mine Action Assessment” in Ukraine; UNMAS confirmed receipt of the request.^[28]

The Ukrainian Mine Action Coordination Center (UMACC) was established in January 2004 as a joint project of six Ukrainian organizations, to support Ukrainian efforts in becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty, and to establish itself as an expert body on implementation of mine action in Ukraine.^[29]

Support to Mine Action

Ukrainian deminers continue to participate in UN peacekeeping operations in other countries. It was reported in May 2005 that Ukrainian Army specialists have conducted demining operations in Wasit province in southeast Iraq since August 2003, where they collected and destroyed more than 1,150,000 mines, UXO and abandoned Iraqi army ammunition.^[30]

In south Lebanon, the Ukrainian Army’s Third Engineer Battalion (UKRBATT) has conducted demining and survey operations, as well as house and road construction and medical assistance, as part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) since January 2001. In 2004, UKRBATT cleared 35,310 square meters, destroying 1,008 antipersonnel mines, three antivehicle mines and 52 UXO.^[31] In April-August 2005, eight UKRBATT demining teams in Lebanon were accredited for participation in UN humanitarian demining programs.^[32]

Landmine/UXO Casualties and Survivor Assistance

In 2004, UMACC recorded 20 new UXO casualties: 13 people were killed and seven injured.^[33] This represents a significant increase from the four new mine and UXO casualties reported in 2003; two people were killed and two injured.^[34]

Casualties continued to be reported in 2005 with three people killed and 11 injured in UXO incidents to 27 May, including nine military personnel injured in an explosion at ammunition depots in Cvetoha, Khmelnitskiy oblast on 6 May.^[35]

Ukrainian military personnel serving in Iraq were killed or injured in landmine incidents in 2004. On 15 August, the commander of a Ukrainian platoon was killed by a remote-controlled landmine blast while collecting water.^[36] In a second incident on the same day, two Ukrainian soldiers were injured after their vehicle hit a landmine.^[37]

The total number of mine casualties in Ukraine is not known, although estimates range as high as 80,000 mine survivors among 300,000 disabled war veterans. Between 2000 and 2003, Landmine Monitor recorded 59 mine/UXO casualties, including 25 people killed and 34 injured. The majority of casualties appear to be due to UXO.^[38]

Ukraine provides financial support for medical rehabilitation in sanatoria, and provides a package of social services, including transportation, housing, healthcare, and free delivery of food and medication to war veterans, in accordance with the national law for veterans and persons with disabilities. Disabled veterans are entitled to pensions; however, pensions are reportedly too low, at less than half the official minimum wage.^[39] The state budget in 2005 provided $30 million for the medical rehabilitation of disabled people. The real needs are estimated at $54 million.^[40]

In March 2005, the new President of Ukraine closed the Ukrainian State Department for Veterans Affairs, which provided control and coordination of state policy for veterans and victims of war.^[41]

From 25-29 May 2005, the Ukrainian Peacekeepers Association and the Soldiers of Peace International Association organized joint events with parliament and the Ministry of Defense in Kiev and Zhitomir. Key officials participated in the meetings and discussed the issue of social protection for participants of peacekeeping and demining operations, and mine survivors.^[42]

On 31 May 2005, the Ukrainian Union of Afghan War Veterans and the Ukrainian Mine Victims Association organized a mass demonstration in the capital, near the parliament buildings; more than 10,000 disabled veterans and other people took part in the demonstration. Leaders of the NGOs had meetings with the chairmen of parliament and government officials, and requested the urgent creation of special state bodies for the social protection of veterans and victims of war. The Ministry of Labor proposed the creation of a Joint Council for Veterans Affairs.^[43]

One mine survivor from Ukraine participated in the Raising the Voices training in Geneva in February 2004, and in the First Review Conference in Nairobi in November-December 2004.

^[1] “Ukrainian parliament ratifies land mine convention,” UNIAN News Agency (Kiev), 18 May 2005.

^[2] Report of the Press Service of the Parliament of Ukraine, 18 May 2005, www.rada.gov.ua.

^[3] Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, “Meeting Report, 15 June 2005,” Geneva, June 2005.

^[4] Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, “Meeting Report, 15 June 2005,” Geneva, June 2005.

^[5] This deferral until 15 May 2008 will become irrelevant when Ukraine formally deposits its ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty and is prohibited from using antipersonnel mines and obligated to complete destruction of stocks within four years of entry into force.

^[6] Report of the Interagency Working Group on Mine Action to the Ottawa Convention: Ukraine’s Participation conference, Kiev, 11 February 2003.

^[7] Order of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, No. 426, 22 March 1999; Report of the Interagency Working Group on Mine Action to the Ottawa Convention: Ukraine’s Participation conference, Kiev, 11 February 2003.

^[8] Statement by Vladimir Dzyub, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the meeting of mine action experts, organized by ICBL-Ukraine, UN Development Programme and Atlantic Council of Ukraine, Kiev, 3 June 2003.

^[9] Statement by Elena Syrota, Mine Action Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Conference on Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, Kiev, 17 May 2004.

^[10] Ministry of Emergency Situations, “Annual Report,” www.mns.gov.ua.

^[11] For details see, Landmine Monitor Report 2003, pp. 546-547. This included 111,607 PMN-1 mines and 293,296 PMN-2 mines.

^[12] Materials and documents of the working meeting of representatives of state institutions and public organizations, The Ottawa Convention and its Significance for Signatory Countries, Kiev, 17 May 2004. The approximate US$ equivalent is calculated at 2004 exchange rates. Average exchange rate for 2004: €1 = $1.2438, used throughout this report. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2005.

^[13] European Commission (EC) presentation by P. Krejsa, “Destruction of PFM-1 Stockpiles in Ukraine,” Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 15 June 2005.

^[14] EC Office of External Relations, “EC Assistance to Ukraine on antipersonnel landmines,” 6 June 2005. This noted that the “Commission took already in 2004 the financial decision to commit up to €7 million ($8.7 million) to support destruction of the PFM-1 antipersonnel landmines stockpile in Ukraine.”

^[15] EC Office of External Relations, “EU and Ukraine launching project on the destruction of landmines,” 16 June 2005.

^[16] EC presentation by P. Krejsa, “Destruction of PFM-1 Stockpiles in Ukraine,” Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 15 June 2005.

^[17] Ministry of Defense, Press Report, March 2004, www.mil.gov.ua.

^[18] Eugen Marchuk, Minister of Defense, quoted in Narodna Armiya (newspaper), 8 July 2004.

^[19] “Ammunition depot burns in Zaporishshya Oblast,” UNIAN (newspaper, Kiev), 6 May 2004.

^[20] “Ukraine: Explosion of Ammunition Depot,” IFRC Information Bulletin, No. 02/2004.

^[21] Yevhn Marchuk, Minister of Defense, quoted in “Catastrophe in Zaproishsya Oblast proved that army’s acute problems realized only in case of accidents,” UNIAN (newspaper, Kiev), 7 May 2004. A similar explosion occurred in October 2003.

^[22] Ministry of Defense, Press Report, 20 July 2005. For details of the Novobohdanovka clearance operation, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 915.

^[23] Ministry of Defense, Press Release, July 2005.

^[24] Ministry of Emergency Situations, “Annual Report 2004,” www.mns.gov.ua. However, the same number (2,400) of EOD interventions and of mines/UXO cleared (52,000) were also reported for 2003. See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 915. It is not clear whether the totals reported here for 2004 include data from specific operations reported in the remainder of this section.

^[25] Ministry of Emergency Situations, “Information Report,” Kiev, July 2004, www.mns.gov.ua.

^[26] Ministry of Emergency Situations, “Information Report,” Kiev, July 2005, www.mns.gov.ua.

^[27] Transimpex, “Report to the Ukrainian Mine Action Coordination Center,” 23 September 2005.

^[28] UNMAS letter to Ukrainian Mine Action Coordination Center, 24 May 2005.

^[29] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 912.

^[30] Ministry of Defense, Press Report, May 2005, www.mil.gov.ua.

^[31] MACC SL, “Quarterly report, July to September 2004,” p. 6.

^[32] UNIFIL Demining Coordination Center report, Naqura, Lebanon, 21 August 2005.

^[33] Ministry of Emergency Situations, “Annual Report 2004,” www.mns.gov.ua.

^[34] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 915.

^[35] UMACC report prepared for the International Mine Action Conference, Kiev, 27 May 2005; Ministry of Defense, Press Release, July 2005.

^[36] “The commander of a Ukrainian platoon in Iraq was killed by a remote-controlled land-mine blast while collecting water,” CP (Kiev), 15 August 2004.

^[37] “5 Ukrainian Peacekeepers In Iraq Injured During Clashes With Militants On August 15,” Ukrainian News (Kiev), 16 August 2004.

^[38] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 915-916.

^[39] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 916.

^[40] Statement by Vasiliy Shevchenko, Director, Ukrprotez Company, Kiev, 13 May 2005.

^[41] USVA press report, March 2005.

^[42] USVA press report, May 2005.

^[43] USVA press report, May 2005