Ukrainian Farmer Comes up with Novel Way to Demine His Fields

A remote controlled demining machine, created by local farmer Oleksandr Kryvtsov with his tractor and armored plates from destroyed Russian military vehicles, is seen during demining of an agricultural field, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the village of Hrakove, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine April 26, 2023. (Reuters)
A remote controlled demining machine, created by local farmer Oleksandr Kryvtsov with his tractor and armored plates from destroyed Russian military vehicles, is seen during demining of an agricultural field, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the village of Hrakove, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine April 26, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukrainian Farmer Comes up with Novel Way to Demine His Fields

A remote controlled demining machine, created by local farmer Oleksandr Kryvtsov with his tractor and armored plates from destroyed Russian military vehicles, is seen during demining of an agricultural field, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the village of Hrakove, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine April 26, 2023. (Reuters)
A remote controlled demining machine, created by local farmer Oleksandr Kryvtsov with his tractor and armored plates from destroyed Russian military vehicles, is seen during demining of an agricultural field, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the village of Hrakove, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine April 26, 2023. (Reuters)

A Ukrainian farmer has come up with a novel way to remove mines left in his fields after Russia's invasion -- he's kitted out his tractor with protective panels stripped from Russian tanks and operates it by remote control.

After Russian forces were driven back from parts of eastern Ukraine by a Ukrainian counteroffensive last year, mines remained in many fields, making it perilous for farmers to sow grain for the next harvest.

Fields around the village of Hrakove was no exception. Oleksandr Kryvtsov, a general manager at his agricultural company, decided he couldn't wait for help from overworked official deminers to clear his field.

Instead, he designed a remote-controlled tractor that could withstand blasts. Using armor from damaged Russian military vehicles to protect the body of his tractor, he bought a system that would enable one of his team to operate the tractor remotely from a digger's bucket suspended in the air nearby.

"We started doing this just because the crop-sowing time has come and we can’t do anything because the rescue services are very busy," Kryvtsov told Reuters.

"We ran over an anti-tank mine. The protection got blown out (but) the tractor is safe," he said." Everyone's alive and safe. The equipment was restored and repaired."

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said last week about 30% of Ukrainian territory had been mined by Russians and that the government was focused on de-mining agricultural land as quickly as possible.

"We have no time to demine the fields. The amount of work is enormous," said Serhii Dudak, head of a demining unit overseeing the tractor's work. "It would take years to demine this particular field by hand and to guarantee that there are no mines here."



An Uncontrolled Wildfire Sends a Cloud of Smoke over Spain’s Capital

 A firefighting plane drops water during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near Navalcarnero, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (A. Pérez Meca/Europa Press via AP)
A firefighting plane drops water during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near Navalcarnero, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (A. Pérez Meca/Europa Press via AP)
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An Uncontrolled Wildfire Sends a Cloud of Smoke over Spain’s Capital

 A firefighting plane drops water during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near Navalcarnero, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (A. Pérez Meca/Europa Press via AP)
A firefighting plane drops water during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near Navalcarnero, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (A. Pérez Meca/Europa Press via AP)

An uncontrolled wildfire burned outside Madrid on Thursday, sending a giant cloud of smoke over the Spanish capital.

The fire broke out in the town of Mentrida in central Spain's Castile-La Mancha region about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the capital. Local authorities urged residents to stay home and close their windows.

Spanish authorities said the blaze had burned around 3,000 hectares (roughly 7,400 acres) by the late evening.

Firefighters deployed on the ground and in the air were working to extinguish the fire that began around 3 pm.

Wind blew the smoke over Madrid, where in the afternoon skies turned orange and thick with smoke.

Large parts of Spain are under heat and fire warnings, with temperatures on Thursday reaching 37 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) in Madrid.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, which makes places more vulnerable to wildfires.