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Found something that looks like a shell? Five steps, in this order

You are walking along the edge of a field, or clearing your own yard after months away, and you see it: a rusty metal shape half in the grass. Or something smaller that looks like a toy, a phone, a bag someone dropped.

What you do in the next minute matters more than what the object is. The rule from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS) and the HALO Trust fits in one breath: “Don't approach! Don't touch! Call 101!”

Five steps, in this order

  1. Stop. Touch nothing, stay calm and note where you are, as DSNS advises.
  2. Warn the people around you and stop any work you are doing.
  3. Go back the way you came. Move yourself and others at least 100 metres away, along the same route, ideally an existing trail, and in single file if you are in a group. An earlier DSNS notice names about 500 metres as the optimal safe distance. When in doubt, go farther.
  4. Call 101 or 102. Speak slowly and give the exact address and landmarks.
  5. Remember the place and, if you can, keep strangers away until help arrives.

What not to do

  • Do not move, take apart, heat or try to defuse the object.
  • Do not cover it with soil or pour liquid on it.
  • Do not smoke or use a lighter near it, and keep phones and remote controls away from it.
  • Do not let people gather around it.

Only specially trained specialists may defuse explosive objects, DSNS says.

Why a shell that did not explode is still a shell

Unexploded ordnance is, in the words of UNMAS, a weapon that “fail[ed] to detonate as designed but remain[s] volatile and can kill if touched or moved”. The ICRC says such munitions may go off at an unpredictable time, and that between about 1 and 40 per cent of munitions fail to explode as intended, depending on age, storage, soil and weather.

So a shell on a shelf is not a souvenir. It is a device that has not worked yet.

What it can look like

The ICRC lists explosive remnants of war: artillery shells, mortar shells, grenades, rockets, missiles and cluster munitions that did not explode or were left behind unused. Improvised explosive devices may also count. Landmines are a separate group: they are set to go off when a person or vehicle comes close or touches them.

Some do not look like weapons at all. DSNS warns that munitions can be disguised as a bag, a phone or a toy. Its rule: do not pick up anything you find on the street.

If you are coming home

About 23 per cent of Ukraine's territory is potentially contaminated, UNICEF said in April 2025. If you return to a house, a yard or a field:

  • treat any unfamiliar object as dangerous;
  • learn the signs and markings of hazardous areas, and keep out of them;
  • remember that winter hides things: the ICRC has warned that snow and ice make weapons harder to see, and that collecting firewood takes people into wooded areas.

Talk to your children, especially teenage boys

UNICEF found that 80 per cent of adolescents can identify specific mine and explosive ordnance risks, yet more than half of those in contaminated regions might still do things that expose them. Adolescent boys aged 14 to 17 are particularly affected, because they explore forests, water and abandoned positions.

Knowing the rule is not enough; it has to become a habit. Go over the five steps with your children, and teach them what DSNS teaches: use only your own belongings, and never pick up a find.

The numbers to keep in your phone

  • 101 and 102: given by DSNS for explosive finds.
  • 112: the emergency line. The ICRC also lists 101 for explosive hazards.

Numbers can change, so check official pages from time to time.

The one rule

Don't approach. Don't touch. Call 101. Then leave the way you came.

These rules are what specialists call explosive ordnance risk education: activities that, in the words of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), “seek to reduce the risk of injury from explosive ordnance”.

Sources

Source: https://armsma.org/en/insights/explosive-ordnance-ukraine — © ARMSMA. Reproduced with permission of ARMSMA.

ARMSMA is not a professional educational institution. This material is provided for general awareness only and does not replace professional training, medical advice or official emergency instructions. ARMSMA accepts no liability for reliance on this content.

Source: https://armsma.org/en/insights/explosive-ordnance-ukraine — © ARMSMA. Reproduced with permission of ARMSMA. — ARMSMA is not a professional educational institution. This material is provided for general awareness only and does not replace professional training, medical advice or official emergency instructions. ARMSMA accepts no liability for reliance on this content.