On 2 June, a car carrying a family with three children exploded on an explosive device near the villages of Morozova Dolyna and Lemishchyve in Bohodukhiv district of Kharkiv Oblast.

Source: Kharkiv RMA

A 37-year-old woman died on the spot. Two girls aged 12 and 15 and a 12-year-old boy were seriously injured. All the victims were hospitalised, and doctors were fighting for their lives.

“Once again, the mine danger in Kharkiv region remains very high. Be as careful as possible. Do not go to forests, fields, forest, roadsides, waterbanks, etc. It can be deadly. Move only on paved roads,” commented Oleh Syniehubov, head of Kharkiv RMA.

Cases of vehicles and people being blown up by mines in Kharkiv region are frequent: a few days ago, a tractor in Zolochiv community hit a mine in the field.

During field work, the tractor hit a mine that exploded but did not cause any severe damage to the equipment.

A tractor exploded on a mine near Karasivka on 31 May 2023 / Photo: Viktor Kovalenko

A tractor exploded near Karasivka village, Zolochiv community, while working. The driver was not injured, and the equipment itself sustained minor damage. Sappers inspected the field before the cultivation.

The following areas in the region are considered to be potentially mined:

  • Kupyansk district;
  • Izium district
  • partially Chuhuiv district;
  • Vovchansk community;
  • Starosaltiv community;
  • partially Bohodukhiv district – Zolochiv community;
  • border areas.

If you find a suspicious object, please inform the State Emergency Service or the National Police by calling 101, 102 or 112.

Do not

  • touch or move the object;
  • use radio equipment, and mobile phones;
  • pour liquids on it, cover it with soil, or cover it with something;
  • touching a suspicious device and exerting sound, light, heat or mechanical influence on it, as almost all explosives are poisonous and sensitive to mechanical, sound and heat.

Placing minefields without marking and recording them for later removal is considered a war crime under Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which is itself an annex to the Geneva Conventions.

See also

War crimes in Kharkiv Oblast: 37 Russian servicemen notified of suspicion. Crimes committed by the military personnel of the aggressor state and representatives of Russian private military companies must not go unpunished.