Mine action in 2026: fewer states bound by the ban, casualties still high

This article separates figures for 2024, 2025 and 2026, and is current as of 17 October 2026. The full Landmine Monitor 2026 is scheduled for November 2026 and had not yet appeared when we checked, so the casualty numbers below are preliminary.

Casualties: 2025 (preliminary) and 2024

On 16 June 2026 the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor released preliminary data for January to December 2025. Landmines and explosive remnants of war killed or injured more than 5,000 people in 40 countries; Syria recorded the most (1,602), followed by Myanmar. Over 90% of casualties whose status was recorded were civilians. The Monitor treats these numbers as a minimum and says data collection continues.

The previous full report covers 2024. According to UN News (1 December 2025), it recorded 6,279 casualties in 2024, the highest in four years, with civilians making up 90 per cent and children almost half. Because the 2025 figure is preliminary and the 2024 figure is final, the two should not be compared directly.

Countries leaving the Mine Ban Treaty: 2025 to 2026

The ICBL says five States Parties, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, withdrew from the treaty. Per the ICBL, the withdrawals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania took effect on 27 December 2025, and Finland's on 10 January 2026. Poland's took legal effect on 20 February 2026. The Arms Control Association reports that all five deposited their notices between 27 June and 20 August 2025, starting six-month clocks, and that the treaty had 166 States Parties before the departures. The same source says that in July 2025 Ukraine announced it would "suspend the operation" of the treaty, that States Parties rejected this, and that Ukraine did not attend the Geneva meeting. We have not confirmed any later change in Ukraine's legal status. On the other side of the ledger, the Monitor's June 2026 release records that Lebanon acceded on 1 May 2026.

Ukraine: contamination at country level

Estimates differ by method and date. In June 2025 UN News quoted a UNMAS estimate of about 139,000 square kilometres of contaminated land, down from 174,000 two years earlier as 35,000 square kilometres were declared safe. On 2 April 2026 the head of mine action at Ukraine's State Emergency Service put the potentially contaminated area at 133,300 square kilometres, including occupied territories. These are estimates of potential contamination, not confirmed hazardous area. The Landmine Monitor 2025 lists Ukraine among the states with massive contamination.

Funding

The Monitor 2025 reports, via Anadolu Agency, that clearance fell in 2024 because of reduced funding and insecurity, that donor support for victim assistance (about 5% of mine action funding) fell by nearly a quarter, and that a US freeze on foreign assistance in early 2025 worsened the situation. States Parties released 1,114 square kilometres of land in 2024. We did not find a verified total for international funding and do not state one.

What to watch

The Landmine Monitor 2026, due in November, should give final 2025 casualty and clearance figures and the funding picture for 2025.