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Aid agencies are warning that Ukrainian civilians face increasing risks of being killed or maimed by landmines and unexploded munitions left behind by Russian forces as the winter draws in.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says snow and ice make these weapons harder to detect, while the lack of heating has forced more people to venture into potentially weapon-ladened forests in search of firewood.

Vlad Sokolov is an emergency services officer who has been demining areas recently occupied by Russian troops. He told Newsday: 鈥淢ines are everywhere鈥�we have 100 calls every day鈥�all civilians have mines in their houses, all fields are mined, all the roads鈥�all objects of critical infrastructure are mined too鈥�.We will find mines for 50 years, maybe 100 years.鈥�

(Picture: Shows a Ukrainian serviceman disabling Russian mines inside a ditch on a field nearby to Snihurivka City in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine on November 12th 2022. Credit: Narciso Contreras / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.)

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