By Anjana Sankar

KHARKIV, Ukraine — In a village in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Oleh Hirman, 49, was inspecting his farmland in the autumn of 2023, putting up “danger” signs to warn visitors about potential landmines, when he heard a click under his boots. The next second, there was a loud explosion. Mud and dirt flew into the air, slamming his body to the ground.

“I felt an electric current passing through my spine and I could not feel my legs,” Hirman told the Globe in a recent interview. “I was lying there looking at the sky and thinking, that is all? Everything is over?”

As Ukraine faces a landmine crisis of unprecedented scale, with explosive remnants of war littering vast stretches of its farmland, villages, and even urban areas, a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is quietly working to help Ukraine clear its lands.

Called the MIT Ukraine program, the initiative formed by alums, students, researchers, startups, and NGOs aims to leverage MIT’s deep strengths in robotics, AI, and sensor technology to support and accelerate demining efforts.

“We knew there is a certain social responsibility for the MIT community to fulfill, and most likely through education, learning initiatives, and things MIT does well,” Phil Tinn, research adviser to the program, told the Globe.