Ukraine Seeks Justice for Deadly Mines
Efforts continue to document incidents - in which hundreds have been killed and injured - to collect evidence for future war crimes trials.
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Law enforcement agencies argue that such crimes are systemic and that not only direct perpetrators but also their commanders must be held to account.
On a cold snowy January morning, police are called to the grounds of a medical facility in the Korabelnyi district of Kherson after locals spot suspected explosives on the road. Disposal specialists identify them as Russian PFM-1S anti-personnel mines - known as ‘petal’ or ‘butterfly’ mines due to their distinctive shape – and decide to neutralise them on-site.
According to local authorities in Kherson, the Russian army is deliberately dropping anti-personnel mines on the city from drones. In a recent incident on January 2, 2026, a Kherson man was killed instantly after stepping on a petal mine.
“The enemy has intensified the mining of residential areas,” police said in a statement. “The temperature poses a significant threat as these mines can react unpredictably to fluctuations and detonate at any moment. The snow adds to the danger, covering the already hard-to-see 'petals'.”
Across Ukraine, hundreds of people have been killed and injured by mines. As efforts continue to document such incidents to collect evidence for future war crimes trials, experts stress the importance of de-mining as part of wider transitional justice processes.
According to official data, law enforcement in the Kherson region has opened 356 criminal cases involving civilian casualties from mines and other explosive devices since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with 140 people killed and 253 injured. Across Ukraine, 1,005 civilians have been injured and 386 have been killed by explosive ordnance during the full-scale war. However, the actual number of victims is likely much higher as the statistics do not include incidents in Russian-occupied territories where Ukrainian officials have no access.
A spokesperson from the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office told IWPR that all such incidents were meticulously documented.
“When inspecting the scene, investigators and bomb disposal experts document remnants of detonators, fragments of the mine’s casing and any markings that help identify the type of munition and its country of origin,” the spokesperson said. “They use photo and video evidence, map the shrapnel dispersal patterns and measure the crater’s depth to determine the explosive power.”
The prosecutor’s office continued that because the territory was mined by servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces during combat operations, all such offences qualify under Article 438 of the criminal code of Ukraine as violations of the laws and customs of war.
“To build the evidence base, expert examinations are conducted,” the spokesperson said. “For example, explosive ordnance analysis establishes the type of explosive device, its trigger mechanism and the amount of explosive material; forensic medical examinations determine the nature and severity of the victims’ injuries; and a property damage appraisal, in cases where a vehicle or other property is destroyed, assesses the cost of damaged property for future compensation, among others.”
Humanitarian Demining
As of early 2026, Russia’s full-scale invasion has made Ukraine one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. According to Ukrainian authorities, an estimated 137,000 square kilometres – roughly 20 per cent of the country’s territory – are considered potentially hazardous.
Legal expert Viktor Filatov, who specialises in the study of transitional justice, told IWPR that the demining process was a crucial element of sustainable recovery from conflict.
“There are several core elements of transitional justice,” Filatov said. “First, institutional reforms. Second, holding perpetrators accountable through criminal prosecution, which is vital for the victims of the conflict. Third is truth-seeking – it is essential to determine the causes and consequences of the conflict to ensure it is not repeated. And fourth, reparations and compensation, which are not just about money, but about acknowledging the crimes, systemic violence and wrongdoing that occurred.”
A spokesperson from the HALO Trust, an international organisation working on the demining process alongside private Ukrainian companies and the State Emergency Service, also emphasised that physical security is essential for people to return and for the economy to grow.
“Demining is not only a technical or humanitarian process, but part of the transition from war to peace,” the spokesperson said. “It is the foundation on which all other transitional justice mechanisms can be built – from documenting war crimes to supporting victims and rebuilding trust within communities. Without cleared land, these processes are either impossible or severely limited.”
In 2024 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the National Mine Action Strategy. Most recently, digital planning has been introduced, which uses AI to analyse large databases and prioritise land for demining where clearance is most urgent. In addition to agricultural land, clearing forests and bodies of water is also a priority.
“When we get into the area of operations, the first stage is a survey,” the HALO Trust spokesperson said. “Non-technical survey teams and remote sensing teams conduct survey during which they either confirm that potentially contaminated areas have threats or they confirm that the land is free of landmines and UXOs [unexploded ordinance] and can be used by locals safely.”
Overall, according to the World Bank, clearing all Ukraine could take decades and cost around 30 billion US dollars. The final outcome will largely depend on the course of the war, available resources and the Ukrainian government’s ability to effectively manage the humanitarian demining process.
And holding the responsible Russian military personnel accountable for the mining of Ukraine, even in absentia, will be extremely difficult.
The Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson said, “The challenges faced during pre-trial investigations and procedural oversight in criminal proceedings of this category include the difficulty of identifying the perpetrators who carry out the mining, either directly or with unmanned aerial vehicles - a drone operator can be approximately 5 to 15 km away from the explosive device’s drop site - as well as ongoing active hostilities in certain areas of the region, which consequently make it impossible for pre-trial investigation bodies to fully perform their functions.”
“However, it is critically important to document such crimes and the damage they cause,” Filatov said, arguing that this evidence could be significant in a future international tribunal to hold the Russian leadership accountable.
“The use of mines and especially the deployment of anti-personnel mines is a war crime,” he continued. “This is stipulated in the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons. Of course, there should be accountability for this. We cannot achieve anything at the national level. Our hope lies with international justice, but that depends on many political and economic factors.”
