Even before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine was already one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world—scarred by the remnants of World Wars I and II, as well as the 2014 conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
The recent escalation has turned a chronic issue into an acute crisis, creating an urgent need for large-scale demining efforts.
Demining encompasses the effective detection, removal and disposal of munitions, including land mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), explosive remnants of war (ERW), and, in some instances, stockpiles of obsolete ammunition and projectiles.
The scale of the challenge
Approximately 139,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory are currently potentially contaminated with explosive devices. Landmines pose a grave threat to civilian safety, reconstruction efforts, and agriculture.
According to Arpana Gandhi, the CEO of Disarmco, a UK-based company specialising in the safe, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective removal of munitions, "Compared to Gaza, where clearance might take 11 years, Ukraine could take 50 to 75 years."
Demining is a complex, multi-stage process that includes the detection, retrieval, and safe disposal of landmines and unexploded ordnance. It requires a diverse range of technologies and tools working in coordination.
This includes ground-based robotics for safe retrieval, drones for aerial surveys and mapping, satellite data for identifying contaminated areas, and advanced sensors for pinpointing explosive devices.
Startups face unique hurdles in demining
Demining involves a complex interplay of commercial and humanitarian enterprises, as well as governmental and international agencies. The sector brings together a wide mix of players—from established defence and engineering companies to innovative startups and NGOs—each contributing different expertise, from hardware and AI to humanitarian operations and community engagement.
Startups in the space face not only the challenge of competing with established enterprises that have worked for decades in both post-conflict and conflict-affected zones, such as Cambodia, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Syria but also in attracting government contracts.
The UK-Ukraine TechExchange is the first non-profit startup support programme of its kind specialising in DefenceTech and agritech.
According to Andriy Dovbenko, principal of the Exchange, procurement from the Ukrainian government is difficult:
"It's a premium market — Ukraine often pays more — but the government is constrained by budget and depends heavily on aid from the EU and US, which mostly comes in the form of equipment, not funds."
Furthermore, he argues that while Ukrainian procurement can be expedited, it lacks stability.
"For long-term planning, working with Western governments is more viable, as they often fund equipment for Ukraine themselves."
Donors and foundations often help fund early purchases.
"They're particularly valuable for pilot tests—they'll buy a system so it can be tested at the front, and if it performs well, it can support further investment or government procurement. But donor funding isn't stable or predictable enough to rely on for scale."
No easy task
Alex Diamond, CEO of Ukrainian demining company Transimpex, shared that Russia scattered thousands of landmines from helicopters over key agricultural land — not for defence, but to deliberately sabotage Ukraine's economy. Transimpex is a member of the UK–Ukraine Tech Exchange and conducts manual demining, technical surveys, and mine neutralisation to reclaim these conflict-affected areas.
Landmine retrieval is a complex, multi-layered process involving working closely with Ukraine's Mine Action Center, which assigns areas and issues the necessary authorisations.
According to Diamond, a significant amount of paperwork and regulation is involved before teams can be deployed, which can take weeks or even months.
"First, we do a non-technical survey, where we assess a suspected hazardous area to determine whether it's likely to contain mines.
We report our findings to Ukraine's National Mine Action Authority, which then validates the data.
Only once we get their permission can we move on to a technical survey and then actual clearance — either manually or with mechanical support, depending on the terrain and risks."
Clearing a landmine (or other munitions) can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an entire week to clear one site. Factors include weather, soil type, the type of mine, and the density of contamination in the area.
Transimpex is starting to integrate drones into its toolkit, "but they're not yet reliable for full-scale daily operations.
According to Diamond,
"Safety is always the top priority — we don't rush anything. Each case is different, and we're dealing with more than 4,000 different types of mines currently being used by enemy forces."
Furthermore, modern mines are more challenging to manage than their older counterparts.
Diamond shared:
"Some of the latest mines are highly sensitive, so much so that you can't even approach them safely. In some cases, we've had to destroy mines from a distance using firearms or other remote methods because even attempting to detect them manually is too dangerous."
By comparison, Disarmco uses a thermite-like mixture of aluminium and iron oxide—the same type used for railway track repairs. It's safe in transit because it can't be weaponised: it requires sequential initiation (A + B + C), high temperatures, and an electric current to function. If intercepted, it's inert.
According to Gandhi: "Our system burns through the casing and then the explosive inside, effectively deflagrating the munition. It works on both bombs and landmines. Explosive Ordnance Disposal operators target specific points like the fuse or presumed location of the high explosive for effectiveness."
Why startups focus on the earlier stages of demining
The final stage of demining — removal — is very conservative and labour-intensive.
Gandhi has observed a shift back toward manual clearance in modern conflict zones and, therefore, focused on making Disarmco's products more accessible and easier to use.
Diamond contends that "there's no silver bullet in this field. At this point, nothing beats a well-trained human with a mine detector — someone well-trained, alert, well-equipped, and safe. Everything else is supplementary."
That said, finding and training deminers takes time; however, Ukraine has compressed the training period to just three months out of necessity.
For this reason, Diamond asserts that the earlier stages of demining, such as surveying and identifying contaminated areas, have more space for innovation.
"Drones, satellites, and AI are increasingly used for this. For example, however, over time, mines sink into the soil, making detection harder."
In February, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry established a trial site to test new technologies used in demining, including those involving AI.
There is also scope for new technology. For example, Disarmco has ventured into detection with a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) system, which uses satellite data for subsurface and subsea ordnance detection.
"It allows us to provide remote desktop surveys pinpointing where unexploded ordnance may be buried."
Gandhi detailed that every device has a unique signature. "Our proprietary algorithm filters out background noise and identifies specific target signatures—like buried ordinance—raising them to the surface in the data."
Urgent need, lasting impact
Diamond stresses the urgency:
"People are still being killed or injured by mines. We don't just want help; we want partnerships. We're capable and ready to scale, but we need the support."
Dovbenko agrees, noting that while the demining sector is tough, Ukraine offers not just need, but capability.
"We encourage partnerships — whether through joint ventures, acquisitions by strategic investors, or knowledge sharing.
Ukraine can offer more than just a request for help—we can help others, too. We can help close capability gaps and bring agility and real-world testing into the development cycle."
Last week marked a significant milestone, according to Ukraine's government agency Demine: over 2,000 hectares of farmland have been cleared and returned to productive use under the country's demining compensation program. To date, more than 107 million UAH (approximately €2.27 million) has been reimbursed to certified operators carrying out this critical work.
Demining companies to watch
Ailand Systems
Ailand Systems is a Ukrainian robotics startup founded in 2023 and headquartered in Kyiv.
The company specialises in developing smart autonomous drones for applications in agriculture, sustainability, and demining. Their flagship product, the ST1, is an unmanned aerial mine detector designed to identify various types of landmines, including those with low metal content.
Equipped with multiple sensors and a powerful onboard microcomputer, the ST1 operates up to 20 times faster than human sappers during visual inspections and up to 4 times faster during subsurface inspections.
BROSWARM
Lithuanian startup BROSWARM replaces outdated sensing technologies such as metal detectors and ground-penetrating radars with groundbreaking, fully autonomous solutions.
Their flagship product, X-Ray Eagle, combines ground-penetrating radar with synthetic aperture radar to produce high-resolution 3D images of subterranean objects. This technology enables drones to detect landmines up to 0.5 meters deep, even in challenging terrains with dense vegetation, and reduces false positives, enhancing both safety and efficiency in demining operations.
The company was awarded a first-place prize in last year's 15th Nato innovation challenge in June 2024.
Feodal
Feodal began as an agtech company in 2019, building digital tools for farmers across Ukraine. In the aftermath of the 2022 full-scale invasion, the company quickly pivoted to address a new and urgent challenge: the threat of landmines to agricultural land.
In April 2022, Feodal launched military.feodal, a cloud-based service that enables farmers to report suspected mine contamination on their fields.
Since then, Feodal has expanded its efforts, consulting farmers on humanitarian demining, producing educational content, and conducting assessments of potentially mined areas to advocate for prioritising clearance operations.
Rovertech
Rovertech is a Ukrainian robotics engineering company specialising in ground-based unmanned systems for military and humanitarian applications. Based in Chervonohrad, the company is best known for developing the Zmiy v1.2, a mobile demining robot designed to withstand anti-tank mine detonations and operate in challenging terrains.
The robot is effective in rugged terrain, dense vegetation and forests. It clears up to 2.5 hectares of area daily, consuming only six litres per 1.2 hours of work.
The Zmiy v1.2 robot has been officially certified by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and NATO, enabling streamlined procurement by military units. Rovertech also offers a leasing program for its demining machines, including insurance coverage for operators, to accelerate demining efforts without requiring substantial upfront investment.
UDAMAGE
UADAMAGE is a Ukrainian technology company founded in 2022 and based in Kyiv, specialising in AI-powered damage assessment and demining solutions. Its platform leverages artificial intelligence, satellite imagery, and drones to automatically monitor and analyse destruction caused by war or natural disasters.
The technology enables rapid evaluation of infrastructure damage, calculates reconstruction costs, and maps affected zones, significantly accelerating recovery efforts. To date, UADAMAGE has assessed damage in over 200 Ukrainian settlements and evaluated ecological threats across 150,000 km².
The platform has also been applied internationally, including in response to California wildfires, where it supported damage estimation and insurance operations.
Lead image: UNICEF Ukraine.
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