Crops can’t be sewn as the food crisis deepens, but your Mail Force donations help the Halo Trust

Farmers in Ukraine will have their fields cleared of deadly landmines and booby traps, thanks to the generosity of Mail readers.

The Halo Trust, a British charity which has received a £250,000 donation from Mail Force, is preparing to launch a huge operation to find and clear landmines and unexploded bombs in the towns and villages surrounding the capital, Kyiv.

It is feared the deadly detritus of war littering the countryside after weeks of fierce fighting will prevent farmers sowing crops this spring, resulting in worsening food shortages and starvation later this year.

As well as planting landmines, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces have used cluster munitions to scatter thousands of bombs across a huge area, with up to 30 per cent of fields too dangerous to sow.

James Cowan (above), chief executive of the Trust, last week visited areas around Kyiv, including the towns of Brovary and Bucha, where hundreds of civilians appear to have been executed and their corpses dumped in mass graves

Ukraine’s farms are a major supplier of corn, sunflower oil and wheat but the size of the harvest is expected to plummet by around 40 per cent this year.

The effect is already being felt in the UK where some supermarkets are limiting the amount of cooking oil that shoppers can buy.

The Halo Trust is assembling a team of 280 explosives experts. They will start mapping where the landmines and unexploded bombs are this week and begin clearing them in early May.

James Cowan, chief executive of the Trust, last week visited areas around Kyiv, including the towns of Brovary and Bucha, where hundreds of civilians appear to have been executed and their corpses dumped in mass graves.

Mr Cowan said: ‘The authorities are in danger of being overwhelmed by people trying to get back into buildings that may have been booby trapped. There is evidence of children’s toys being set up as booby traps with landmines. There is evidence of doors with wires on them so you open the door and it pulls the pin out of a hand grenade.’

Founded more than 30 years ago, the Halo Trust shot to global prominence in 1997 when Princess Diana walked through a minefield being cleared by Halo in Angola.

A Ukrainian rescuer clears mines off a territory near Brovary city of Kyiv’s area

He said: ‘There is a lot of agricultural land in between the dormitory towns and this is the planting season and farmers need to be getting out to plant their crops.

‘But they can’t do this because of the presence of landmines and booby traps. There is a great pressure to get on and clear that.’

Farmland covers 70 per cent of Ukraine and agricultural products are its top export, making up 10 per cent of its gross domestic product.

Russian troops are also shelling granaries and food storage sites and destroying farm equipment.

Four members of Ukraine’s armed forces and emergency services were killed by landmines or booby traps in three days last week. Two rescue dogs were also killed after triggering Russian trip wires.

Mairi Cunningham, Halo’s Ukraine programme manager, said: ‘Deadly munitions litter fields and farmland but thanks to Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday readers, Halo is working with local authorities to start clearing explosives. 

Princess Diana wearing a bombproof visor during her visit to a minefield in Huambo, in Angola in 1997

‘Every pound will make a difference as we clear Ukraine’s roads, fields and farmland and make its cities and towns safe for families to return home.’

Meanwhile, Russian forces and their allies have been seizing vast farms in territory they occupy.

Albert Cherepakha, owner of a business that cultivates 49,000 acres near Kherson, told how Chechen gunmen commandeered areas of his farm earlier this month and threatened to behead staff.

‘They commanded my workers to start sowing,’ he said.

First Mail Force food boxes reach Ukraine

By Michael Powell 

The record-breaking Mail Force Ukraine Appeal has ordered an astonishing 6.5 million items of food to help starving families in the warzone, thanks to reader donations.

A staggering 90,000 food boxes have already been packed by workers at Oakland International depot in Leicestershire since the campaign launched, with 30 lorries dispatched in a joint £8 million mission with the Ukrainian embassy in London and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to send 500,000 boxes to the country.

Each food box contains 14 items, including pasta, porridge, tinned meat, fish and vegetables, and contains enough calories to feed an adult for a week.

CBI president Lord Bilimoria said: ‘I can’t thank Mail readers enough for their donations.’

Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed how the first 2,400 food boxes had been whisked by lorry across Europe to a secret location in Poland.

Yesterday that first delivery of food, weighing almost 20 tons, was speeding across western Ukraine.

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