As the world marks the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Yaşar Halit Çevik, and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, Henrik Villadsen, reiterated the importance and urgency of conducting mine action in eastern Ukraine.
“In light of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ appeal to support the bigger battle against COVID-19, now more than ever, the signatories of the Minsk Agreements must implement commitments undertaken to remove existing mines and not to lay new ones,” said Çevik, according to a report on the OSCE website.
“Last year, mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other explosive objects caused more fatalities than shelling and small-arms fire combined. Of the 48 civilian casualties caused by mines and UXO in 2019, 10 were children. Since 2017, the SMM has recorded nearly 300 civilian casualties due to mines and UXO. So far this year the number of victims already stands at 12,” he noted.
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Source: Ukr inform