‘We Lay Mines For Them, They Lay Mines For Us’: Ukrainian Sappers Focus On Frontline Roads

The war in eastern Ukraine has been raging for more than eight years, and it has taken a heavy toll on both sides. One of the most dangerous aspects of the conflict is the widespread use of landmines and other explosive devices, which have killed and injured thousands of soldiers and civilians.

According to the Ukrainian defense minister, Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world, with millions of explosive devices and hundreds of kilometers of minefields along the front line. Some of the mines have been laid by Ukrainian forces to protect their own defensive positions, but the majority are Russian, and many of them are dropped from the air or fired by rockets.

The Ukrainian military has been trying to clear the mines and make the roads and fields safe for movement and agriculture. But the task is daunting and dangerous, and the sappers, or demining teams, are often under-equipped and overworked. They also face the risk of being attacked by Russian forces while they are working in the so-called “gray zone”, the area between the two sides’ positions.

One of the sappers, Oleksandr Slyusar, told the Guardian that he had spent 30 hours under Russian shelling in a recently liberated village, and that one of his colleagues had been wounded by a rocket fired from a Grad system.Slyusar said that he had to inject himself with a painkiller every day, and that there were only five active sappers in his brigade of 30. He also said that the sappers had to lay their own mines to deter the enemy from advancing.

“We lay mines for them, they lay mines for us,” he said. “It is a cruel game.”

Another sapper, who spoke to Current Time on condition of anonymity, said that he had to work in a minefield that was 10 miles deep, and that he had to pray every time he went out. He said that he had seen many of his friends die or lose their limbs, and that he had also witnessed a horrific incident involving a Russian soldier.

He said that the Russian soldier had survived a Ukrainian grenade attack, but had been severely injured and had lost his mind. He said that the soldier had been wandering around the minefield, shouting and shooting randomly, until he accidentally shot himself in the head.

“He was like a zombie,” the sapper said. “He didn’t know what he was doing. He was just shooting at everything. And then he shot himself. It was terrible.”

The sappers’ work is not only vital for the Ukrainian military, but also for the local population, who live in constant fear of stepping on a mine or finding an unexploded shell in their backyard. According to the HALO Trust, a humanitarian demining organization, more than 2,000 civilians have been killed or injured by mines and explosive remnants of war in Ukraine since 2014. The organization estimates that it will take at least 10 years to clear all the contaminated areas in the country.

The Ukrainian government has appealed for international help to deal with the mine problem, and has received some assistance from NATO and other partners. But the sappers say that they need more equipment, training, and personnel to cope with the scale and complexity of the challenge. They also hope that the war will end soon, and that they will be able to return to their normal lives.

“I don’t want to be a sapper anymore,” Slyusar said. “I want to be a father, a husband, a son. I want to live in peace.”