The USA is preparing 100 teams of sappers for demining in Ukraine
10 December, 2022 Demining. Image: Interregional Center for Humanitarian Demining The United States is preparing teams of sappers for demining territories in Ukraine.
The representative of the U.S. State Department, European Affairs Manager Michael Tirre said this during the briefing of the Helsinki Commission of the U.S. Congress, Voice of America reports.
In general, the USA expects to create and finance the work of 100 demining teams in Ukraine by the spring of 2023. Michael Tirre notes the high efficiency of Ukrainian sappers, who since March have already defused about 500,000 explosive objects. This year, United States Department of State has allocated £91.5 million for training, equipment, and ensuring the work of demining teams in Ukraine.
Mine clearance.
Photo credits: International Centre for Humanitarian Demining
"This program is unique. This is the only major project of sapper training inside Ukraine financed by foreign countries. It was created as a program for coordination between different donor countries," Tirre said.
The U.S. State Department expects that demining Ukraine will be one of the biggest challenges since World War II. More than 160,000 square km of Ukraine must be checked for mines. The complexity of the process lies not only in the volume of work, but also in the treachery of the Russians' mining.
Mine clearance.
Photo credits: International Centre for Humanitarian Demining
Michael Tirre said that the Russians in Ukraine are using the same tactics as ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq: Russian soldiers are purposefully looting civilian homes, including children's toys, and even the bodies of the dead. The Helsinki Commission stated that Ukraine became one of the most mined countries in the world even before the full-scale war with Russia. According to her data, after the beginning of the Russian aggression from 2014 to 2022, more than 1,100 civilians had died from mines and explosive objects in Ukraine.
Mine clearance process.
Photo credits: International Centre for Humanitarian Demining
According to the Helsinki Commission, Ukraine ranks fifth in the world in the number of civilian landmine injuries, and in the top three in the number of accidents caused by anti-transport mines. As it has recently become known, Canada will allocate more than £11 million for equipment for humanitarian demining in Ukraine. They will finance the purchase of special sapper suits for the specialists.
Besides, these funds are to be spent on means of detecting explosive objects in large areas.
In addition, the Canadian military has begun training Ukrainian sappers in Poland.
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