Russians planted thousands of land mines and booby-traps to ‘kill or maim’ civilians, Ukrainians say.

Ukraine’s emergency companies company has deployed a small military of about 550 mine specialists to clear the areas not too long ago occupied by Russian forces. The groups have been working to take away about 6,000 explosives per day, and for the reason that begin of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, they’ve discovered greater than 54,000 explosive gadgets, the company reported on Tuesday.

“Wherever the occupiers stayed in a single day, they’d arrange tripwires,” Ukraine’s inside minister, Denys Monastyrsky, mentioned throughout a televised interview on Sunday. “Explosives have been discovered underneath helmets, hooked up to doorways, within the washer, and in vehicles.”

The location of explosives in Ukrainian houses couldn’t be independently verified.

Mr. Naumenko, who was killed on April 4, labored as a driver within the village of Hoholiv, about 40 miles outdoors of Kyiv. However his expertise lay in repairing vehicles. After Russian forces retreated from a close-by village, neighbors discovered an deserted automobile and turned it over to him.

His spouse discovered of his demise the following day in Poland, the place she had fled with their 7-year-old son and her mom at the beginning of the warfare. She returned to their village as quickly as she obtained the information. “What was left was the automobile, with the door nonetheless open and a pool of blood,” Ms. Naumenko, 28, mentioned, “and a giant vacancy.”

Her account was confirmed by way of images and by the Kyiv regional police, who posted a report in regards to the incident on their Fb web page, cautioning returning residents to “not contact objects and issues that aren’t beforehand examined by consultants.”

Different native officers are urging residents to name emergency companies earlier than coming into their houses.

Retreating armies typically bury land mines to be able to gradual the advance of enemy armies. However consultants say Russian forces have well-earned popularity for booby-trapping areas they’ve vacated to be able to kill and maim returning civilians.