UKRAINE, Apr 04 — 289 people, including 15 children, have been killed by explosives since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, announced the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko.

“These [numbers] include villagers who try to cultivate the land without waiting for official permission from the authorities, and those who simply ignore all prohibitions and go to dangerous areas to pick mushrooms, for example, or just take a walk,” the Interior Minister said.

According to the minister, some people exploded on mines because they tried to disassemble them or took the explosives home.

People are most often exploded on PFM (“Petal”) mines 

The PFM-1 (anti-personnel landmine) “Petal” is a Soviet-made anti-personnel landmine of pressure action. It almost exactly copies the American BLU-43/B Dragontooth mine. The mine was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1975. It can be laid manually or with the help of special mine fences. The PFM-1 is a very dangerous mine because it can be disguised as grass or foliage. The mine is triggered when a person steps on it, resulting in serious injury or death.

How to report mines and/or other explosive objects in Ukraine

  • Submit a request through the SES application for demining (iOS and Android);
  • In the MineFree app for demining (iOS and Android);
  • Call 101 or 102.

UPD from Apr 4, 10:49 p.m.: Inconsistency in the first paragraph fixed and the title. Russian mines and other explosive devices have killed 289 people since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, according to Ihor Klymenko’s data.

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