Ukraine's Fields Are Now the World's Deadliest

📡 Guardian · 1 min read ·
Olena Kabanova kneels in a field of weeds in eastern Ukraine, digging carefully around a spot where a mine detector found something. The 58-year-old uses a shovel and a steady hand to cut a neat square in the ground. Four years ago, Russian soldiers occupied this field. Ukraine has since taken it back. But the land is now covered with landmines. The number of mines in Ukraine is on a scale not seen since the Vietnam War. Clearing them is slow and dangerous work. To meet the challenge, demining groups are turning to new tools: drones and artificial intelligence. These technologies help teams find and remove mines faster, while keeping workers out of harm's way. For civilians like Kabanova, the goal is simple: make the land usable again.