Meet the women clearing Ukraine

In Ukraine, the danger doesn’t end when the shelling stops. 

Landmines and unexploded bombs remain buried across vast areas, continuing to kill and injure civilians, and block communities from returning, rebuilding, and recovering.

One of the hardest-hit places is the region of Kharkiv, which spent nearly six months under Russian occupation in 2022. 

When it was retaken by Ukrainian forces, what emerged was a deadly landscape – homes, farms, and roads littered with explosives. Today, it’s one of the most heavily contaminated areas in the country.

Here, an all-female demining team – funded by the If! Foundation – is working every day to make land safe. By clearing villages and towns, they are restoring hope and bringing new life to communities.

From teachers and medics to video editors and young mothers, the women belonging to this team come from all walks of life. What unites them is a single, unwavering purpose: to reclaim and protect the land they call home.

Meet the team on the ground:

“I’m from Bakhmut, a city that is now well known as a symbol of Ukrainian resilience. Unfortunately, there’s nothing left of it.”

Iryna’s background is in both child welfare and medicine, with experience in surgery, dentistry, and addiction treatment. But a personal tragedy changed everything: two children from a family she supported were killed by unexploded ordnance in 2014. They were just five and eleven years old.

“Like most kids, they picked up whatever seemed interesting. I just couldn’t continue with a medical career anymore.”

Iryna has now worked in humanitarian demining for six years and is committed to saving and protecting lives.

“The team is motivated by the desire to clear the land where they were born. We all have families – children, parents – and this work is for their future too.”

Her goal now is to train others and expand safe practices across Ukraine: “There is no place for self-confidence in our work – only discipline, strong knowledge, and practiced technique honed to the level of instinct.”

A mother of three, Nataliia lost her husband in a car accident in 2021. She moved to Balakliya from a nearby village and left behind 22 years in education, including time as head of the local education department.

“I didn’t want to fight on the front lines, but I needed to contribute to something meaningful.”

She researched the job online, and when MAG opened an office in Balakliya, she applied. An HR officer reassured her that women could do the job – and do it well.

“All the team members have different backgrounds – we have been learning together from scratch, and we have become very close.”

While some tasks require physical strength, Nataliia says Ukrainian women have proven their resilience: “Ukrainian women are very strong – it's no longer a secret for the whole world.”

Originally from Kramatorsk in Donetsk region, Anastasiia left her hometown in 2022 due to escalating danger, although her parents are still there. She previously worked as a video editor for a YouTube sports channel, and later with a humanitarian organisation in Kyiv.

“I immediately liked the idea of helping people.”

Her husband, who now leads a community liaison team at MAG, was offered a job in Balakliya. They relocated together, and she soon joined as a deminer after seeing that “even women my size were being recruited”.

“I thought only men could do this job,” she says. “But when I saw other people like me doing it, I realized I could too. I even joined a gym to prepare.”

“My next goal is to gain experience in mechanical demining – using machines to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance by destroying or removing them – I want to grow in this field.”

Tetiana is from Vovchansk, Kharkiv region. Her hometown is partially occupied and heavily damaged. She fled in November 2022 with her young son – only a month old at the time – while under shellfire.

“It’s still painful to talk about,” she says.

Tetiana resettled in Balakliya, where her mother had bought a house just a year earlier. Tetiana applied for a community outreach role but was offered the chance to train as a deminer.

“I was shocked. I thought this kind of work was only for ‘astronauts’ – a local joke for doing complicated work.

She trained while caring for her toddler, reading him notes about mine safety instead of bedtime stories.

“My mother thought I was crazy. My husband was against it too. Now he’s proud, quietly watching me succeed.”

A mother of two – an eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old son – Nataliia says her children proudly tell their classmates that their mother is a deminer: “They feel this job is so cool and they are very proud of me.”

Before maternity leave, she worked as a metrology engineer in a hospital. Demining is a completely new field for her, but one she’s embraced fully.

“Our team leader Iryna is just amazing – everyday she shares her knowledge and teaches us something new, gives us helpful tips.

“I can call my co-workers my friends now, we often meet at weekends to spend time together and chat.”

Her husband, an agrarian, encouraged her to take on this new role: “He benefits directly from the land we’re clearing.”

Learn more about MAG’s work in Ukraine here.