Demilitarization of Kinburn Spit requires long-term mine clearance, — Ukrainian Navy

The liberation of the Kinburn Spit requires not only political decisions, but also long-term work on humanitarian demining of land and water areas that have suffered large-scale military and environmental destruction.

This was stated by the spokesman for the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmytro Pletenchuk, in a commentary to the “Apostrophe”.

According to him, one of the points of the draft peace plan provides for the unhindered use of the Dnieper River and the Black Sea by Ukraine for commercial activities, as well as the demilitarization of the Kinburn Spit. At the same time, this territory currently remains a zone of active hostilities.

Pletenchuk emphasized that the Kinburn Spit has suffered enormous destruction not only in the military, but also in the environmental dimension. This is about the actual destruction of protected areas, unique flora and fauna as a result of fires and explosions, the restoration of which will take decades.

The Navy spokesman also emphasized the strategic importance of the Kinburn Spit, which allows for control of the Dnipro-Bug estuary and the Dnipro-Bug shipping channel. This location is key for navigation when using the ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson.

Due to the blockade of the Mykolaiv and Kherson ports, the main load currently falls on the ports of Greater Odessa, which significantly affects both the state of the infrastructure and the intensity of logistical traffic.

According to Pletenchuk, the demilitarization of the region is technically possible, but its implementation is complicated by large-scale mining of the water area, which has significantly intensified after the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. In addition to demining the spit itself, it is necessary to carry out work in the surrounding waters.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that after the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, a significant amount of aviation ammunition from both banks of the Dnieper was washed into the area, as well as anchor river mines that had been mined in the river.

The Navy spokesman stressed that the restoration of safe navigation on the Dnieper and the Black Sea is critically important for the Ukrainian economy, in particular for the export of agricultural products and the preservation of jobs.