Crouched over on her hands and knees in a field of weeds, Olena Kabanova is digging into the ground.
asserted
Kabanova → crouch → ground
With a shovel and a steady hand, the 58-year-old digs out a neat square around the spot where a mine detector has sensed a suspicious object.
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detector → dig → object
Four years ago, this field in eastern Ukraine was occupied by Russian soldiers.
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field → occupy → soldiers
Now back under Ukrainian control, it is littered with landmines.
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it → litter → landmines
Civilians such as Kabanova are trying to make the land usable again.
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land → try → Kabanova
Littered across contested territory, they leave land unusable for years after a war has ended.
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war → litter → years
Removing them is an expensive and dangerous job.
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Removing → remove → them
And the use of long-range drones in Ukraine, which is often described as the most mine-contaminated country in the world, is increasing the scale of the problem.
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which → describe → problem
“What we’re now seeing is the massive increase in the use of drone-delivered munitions,” says Paul Heslop, the programme manager for mine action at the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine.
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Heslop → see → Ukraine
“What already was a very high-intensity battle area is now potentially, through the use of drones on both sides, becoming a much wider area of contamination and a scale that we haven’t seen since the Americans were dropping cluster munitions on the Ho Chi Minh trail.
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Americans → become → trail
The task of clearing landmines from Ukraine is replete with challenges.
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task → clear → challenges
Drone and missile attacks make working outdoors unsafe; humanitarian workers are sometimes directly targeted.
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workers → make → ?
And newer, deadlier threats are also appearing.
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threats → appear → ?
They include the POM-3, a small cylindrical mine used by Russian forces that could be mistaken for an abandoned vacuum flask.
uncertain
that → include → flask
It is detonated by the vibrations of approaching footsteps.
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It → detonate → footsteps
POM-3 mines mean there are “specific villages that we just completely avoid”, says Anda Riza, a unit commander of the Halo Trust, the largest international humanitarian demining organisation in Ukraine, which employs Kabanova in the field in Kharkiv.
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which → mean → Kharkiv
The types of landmines are “constantly developing and evolving”, says Valeriia Shumska, Riza’s colleague.
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Shumska → develop → landmines
But the technological innovation that is emerging from the conflict is also helping deminers to come up with new ways of working, which they hope are quicker and safer than the traditional hands-and-knees approach.
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they → emerge → approach
The advances are being supported by the $1.5bn funding that has poured into Ukraine’s demining sector since the start of the full-scale invasion.
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that → support → invasion
Digging out a patch of land could take up to 45 minutes.
uncertain
Digging → dig → minutes
But a new machine can do it in five.
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machine → do → five
Called the DMR-7, it is a small, tank-like vehicle fitted with a hosepipe that shoots out jet flows of compressed air.
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that → call → air
The tank is operated by a human using a remote controller who stands at a safe distance away.
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who → operate → distance
The operator manoeuvres the tank into place and then, with a loud mechanical whirring and plumes of dirt billowing skywards, the DMR-7 uses the force of compressed air to blast away a small patch of soil.
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DMR-7 → manoeuvre → soil
It is a bulky, expensive alternative to a shovel, but it’s one that deminers hope can make one of the most dangerous parts of the demining process quicker and safer.
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one → ’ → process
The DMR-7 is just one of a host of new pieces of kit that the Halo Trust is experimenting with in Ukraine.
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Trust → experiment → Ukraine
Other technologies include AI-powered image analysis, ground-penetrating radar and devices that can detect explosive material, not just metal.
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that → include → material
Just as drones have transformed the battlefield, they have also created new opportunities for humanitarians.
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they → transform → humanitarians
Before 2022, much of Halo’s surveillance work – looking for signs of explosives – was done with binoculars and maps.
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much → look → binoculars
Now it is done with drones, and satellite imagery, which can be analysed with the help of AI.
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which → do → AI
But war has also led to innovations in anti-drone technology.
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war → lead → technology
Drone jamming systems, used by both Russian and Ukrainian forces, can interfere with humanitarian work.
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systems → use → work
Halo has lost several drones to jamming and spoofing attacks.
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Halo → lose → attacks
And the advances in new technology are not spread equally between providers.
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advances → spread → providers
In a field adjacent to one that Kabanova is working in, staff from the state emergency services are also clearing mines.
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staff → work → mines
Under the glare of the late summer sun, Mykyta Shulzhenko, the head of the mechanised demining unit, says his colleagues have started using drones for surveillance.
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colleagues → say → surveillance
But they are not yet able to use AI to analyse the drone-captured imagery.
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they → use → imagery
“I really hope this kind of technology will be implemented soon in our work,” he says.
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he → hope → work
The Halo Trust alone spent nearly £50m in Ukraine in the year to 31 March 2025, dwarfing the state’s annual budget of £28.6m for a programme to clear agricultural land of mines and unexploded ordnance.
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Trust → spend → mines
Responsibility for the sector is split across multiple government agencies.
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Responsibility → split → agencies
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
