After signing contracts with the Humanitarian Demining Center, the contractors were supposed to clear fields of explosive ordnance; however, they actually faked the work and entered false information into official documents regarding areas that were supposedly cleared of mines.
However, this is a case of fraud, not a potential threat to farmers’ lives. The perpetrators simulated work on plots that had actually been cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance as far back as 2023–2024. Specifically, to make it look credible, they dug up the soil and planted ammunition there, passing it off as having been “discovered” during the work.
In this way, the perpetrators created the appearance of having cleared more than 820 hectares of farmland of mines. This was reported by the National Police and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
According to investigators, the officials were fully aware that no actual demining was taking place, yet they facilitated the preparation of documents regarding the allegedly completed work.
Earlier, in April 2026, as part of the same criminal investigation, charges were brought against the director of a Kyiv-based mine-action operator and the head of a team of deminers for fictitious land demining in the Kherson region, which resulted in 6.3 million hryvnias being illegally paid out of the budget. The investigation is ongoing.
