Would you carry on with your life as usual if your country were suddenly invaded?
It can be a hard questions to answer until your reality is turned upside down by war. A new reality that all Ukrainians have had to get used to after Russia launched a full-scale attack in 2022.
The war has forced them to change their lives, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot. And many have chosen an entirely new path.
On this page you can meet six Ukrainian women who left their regular jobs to become deminers with DanChurchAid.
Every day, they work in areas where mines, artillery shells, and other explosive remnants of war may be hidden beneath the ground or concealed in the landscape.
These women have changed their day jobs to help make Ukraine safe again. One centimetre at a time.
Viktoriia Shynkar – from hairdresser to deminer
Viktoriia had worked as a hairdresser throughout her adult life. But after Russia’s full-scale invasion, she felt a desire to do something for Ukraine. She traded the warmth of the salon for a metal detector, mud, and rain. Today, she helps clear contaminated land so that people can once again grow crops, work, and move about safely.
Karina Palamarchuk – from veterinarian medical assistant to deminer
Karina loved her work as a veterinary medical assistant. Even so, she left her job to become a deminer and make a difference for the people of Ukraine. She is working towards a future where children can play without fear, farmers can cultivate their fields, and people can once again move safely through their own country.
Deadly remnants of war
Mines, artillery shells, and unexploded ordnance are scattered across large swathes of Ukraine.
Around 139,000 km² have been identified as potentially contaminated by explosive remnants of war. This corresponds to approximately 25 percent of Ukraine’s territory, an area more than three times the size of Denmark.
These dangerous objects are found wherever people need to live their lives: in fields, forests, and orchards; in private gardens and between village homes. They lie along roads, railway tracks, riverbanks, and cemeteries.
Some are hidden beneath the ground. Others may look like harmless pieces of metal.
The consequences extend far beyond the immediate danger. When an area is suspected of being contaminated by explosives, farmers cannot cultivate their land. Children cannot move around safely. Families may be unable to visit the graves of their loved ones.
Only once an area has been cleared everyday life can truly return.
Hanna Kudriavtseva – from detective to deminer
Hanna worked as a police detective for nearly ten years. When Russia invaded Ukraine, she felt compelled to do more for her country. Today, she is a team leader in humanitarian demining, helping clear dangerous explosive remnants from fields and forests so that children and families can once again move about more safely.
Tetiana Shchepanovo – from car salesperson to deminer
Tetiana had worked in the automotive industry for eight years when the war forced her to flee Ukraine. After two months in Sweden, she returned home to be with her loved ones and to help her country. She chose to become a deminer and has since found a job that is both challenging and deeply meaningful.
The war isn’t over under the soil
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, nearly 1,700 people in Ukraine have been seriously injured or killed by explosive remnants of war.
Almost 500 people have lost their lives.
And the problem does not end when the fighting moves on. Mines and unexploded ordnance can remain buried in the ground for decades.
The legacy of war hits civilians hard
- 31 children are killed or maimed by war every day worldwide.
- Four out of five mine victims are civilians.
- One in three civilian mine victims is a child.
- Around 47 million children have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict and violence.
Olena Shpytsia – from bookkeeper to deminer
Olena worked as an bookkeeper before her husband became a deminer and inspired her to follow the same path. Today, they both work for DanChurchAid. As parents, they dream of a future where children can once again explore nature without fear. Olena feels that she has found her true calling in this new and meaningful work.
Hanna Ivanikova – from fashion designer to deminer
Hanna worked in clothing and pattern design before a job posting for demining changed the course of her life. She left behind a secure career to help clear Ukraine’s land of mines. The work can be dangerous, but for Hanna it provides a sense of strength, purpose, and hope amid the uncertainty of war.
One centimetre at a time
In Mykolaiv, more than 100 deminers work for DanChurchAid. Among them are the women featured in this exhibition.
The work requires patience and precision.
Using machinery, metal detectors, and small hand tools, the deminers examine the ground centimetre by centimetre. When they find mines or other explosive objects, they mark their location and they are destroyed by the Ukrainian authorities.
Nothing can be left to chance and the work progresses slowly.
Yet every square metre cleared means that people can once again use their land and move about safely.
110 hectares already returned to the community
So far, DanChurchAid’s deminers have released 110 hectares of land for the people of Mykolaiv.
That is roughly equivalent to:
- 150 football pitches
- 1.5 times The Forbidden City in Beijing
- 2.5 times The Vatican City
But an enormous task still lies ahead. DanChurchAid estimates that it may take up to 50 years to clear Ukraine of mines and other explosive remnants of war.
Mykolaiv is among the hardest-hit regions. The same is true of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
From ordinary working lives to demining
The women whose stories you can find on this page were not deminers before the war changed their country.
They had different jobs, different plans, and different lives.
Today, they put on protective gear and go to work in areas where a single wrong step can have serious consequences.
The stories form part of a photo exhibition sponsored by Danida and is part of the campaign ‘Human Bonds’ by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
DanChurchAid’s demining work in Ukraine
DanChurchAid’s demining work in Ukraine is made possible by generous funding from Danida as well as private donations and foundations including:
