Russia Has Turned Eastern Ukraine Into a Giant Minefield

People who live in mines have a negative effect on a country's psychological health. Even if you are never wounded by a mine or trap or witness one being triggered, the knowledge that you are in an area contaminated with explosives can cause psychological scarring. One study found that the test scores of school children in mine-contaminated areas appeared to go up once those areas were cleared. Everything is affected by the fear, uncertainty, and lack of control.

Many survivors of landmine explosions go on to develop depression, anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as face discrimination when trying to find work. A landmine injury can destroy a family and leave a parent unable to work. It is possible to help with recovery, butUkraine is unlikely to have the capacity to provide what is needed since it failed to meet its targets prior to this year.

There is no way of knowing how long the direct threat of mines will last. Across Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, people are still being killed by anti-personnel mines after conflicts have been resolved. There is a psychological weight on the civilian population if mines are still in the ground. After they've been cleared, the scarring effects of conditions such asPTSD may never be fixed.

While the war is still going on, a small but growing number of Ukrainians are starting to clear land. Trained civilians teach others about the dangers that are hidden around them.

Olesia Fesenko is a communications officer for the HALO Trust in Ukranian. Good physical health and motivation are the only real requirements that we have.

Fesenko says there are good days when recruits discover their first mine and see it destroyed. She says that they are very jittery. You see that it is the result of your work and that it will be destroyed and not hurt anyone anymore. There are some bad things. It was the HALO Trust that first reported Luba's story.

A task that will prove a defining undertaking in modern European history will be done by teams from organizations such as the HALO Trust. Even with the necessary money, time, and commitment, repairing the structural damage to Ukrainian homes, infrastructure, and economy will be crucial to how history remembers this war. The psychology is to continue the punishment. It says you will remember us.