Ukraine has become a world leader - in 2016, it accounted for a quarter of all global mine explosion victims
Almost a quarter of the world's victims (24%) of incidents with anti-vehicle mines in 2016 occurred in Ukraine, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
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This is stated in a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Radio Liberty reports.
According to researchers, Ukraine has had the largest number of incidents with anti-vehicle mines for two years in a row and, as a result, has the largest number of victims. According to SIPRI, these cases occurred in the Donbass, where the military conflict between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the armed formations of the DPR and LPR continues.
Compared to 2015, in 2016 the number of incidents increased by 48%, the number of victims by 4%, the report says.
“Mines not only cause casualties, but also have harmful socio-economic consequences. They do not allow people to engage in agriculture, which is often their main source of livelihood. Anti-vehicle mines can also be an obstacle to infrastructure repairs and development, preventing access to water and gas,” the report’s authors say.
SIPRI also added that these weapons are a constant threat to humanitarian workers.
According to the institute, since 1999, 63 countries and territories have recorded 7472 casualties due to anti-vehicle mine incidents. In 2016, the largest number of such incidents occurred in Ukraine, Mali, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Cambodia.
Anti-vehicle mines are designed to disable or destroy vehicles, in particular tanks and armored vehicles. Some of these mines are difficult to detect because they contain minimal amounts of metal.
Unlike anti-personnel mines, which were banned in 1997 by the relevant convention, the use of anti-vehicle mines is currently regulated, but not prohibited.
On August 16, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission announced that 27 people had been killed and 62 injured in Donbass this year due to unexploded mines and ammunition.
Reports of injuries or deaths due to explosive devices in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine appear regularly. Demining the territory of Donbass is, among other things, the subject of negotiations in the trilateral contact group in Minsk.
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