Themes by tag: demining

A manicurist, an IT expert, a doctor, a finance major, a private entrepreneur, a confectioner or a dancer — this is just a part of the list of professions of Ukrainians working with The Halo Trust international organization. People with a background in various industries take specialized courses and become deminers, that is, they detect and mark explosive objects. Deminers are paid for their work.

As of now, a total of 1,200 Ukrainians are involved in demining efforts in 6 regions: Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kherson. Since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, 19,000 mines and explosive objects have been discovered with the efforts of The Halo Trust. Three million square meters of territory was cleared of mines (an equivalent of 300 football fields).

Journalists can learn more about the work of The Halo Trust in Ukraine and cover its activities.

For reference: According to the State Emergency Service, 30% of the territory of Ukraine is contaminated by mines.

• demining

EOD specialists of the Municipal Guard of Irpin community can now demine not only land contaminated by explosives, but also local bodies of water. They will do it with an underwater drone. It can descend to a depth of 150 meters and examine the bottom without endangering divers.

A local resident helped to raise funds and purchase a drone. In this way, she wanted to thank the EOD specialists who neutralized the mine in her yard.

In addition, two EOD specialists of the Municipal Guard have already completed a two-month training course for divers at the Kyiv State Maritime School. The priority plans are to clear the local quarry, where russian shells landed during last year’s fighting in Kyiv region.

By prior agreement, journalists are welcome to cover how EOD specialists work with an underwater drone.

For reference: 40 days after the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, the specialists of the EOD Department of Municipal Guard, public utility service under the Irpin City Council began demining the territory of the community. The land is cleared by local residents who have undergone training and mastered the EOD profession. (Among them are, in particular, war veterans, former special forces, and retired sappers). Over the course of their work, the team discovered 1,000 artillery shells and mortar mines, more than 100 tripwire grenades and about 1,000 anti-tank mines.

• demining
• Kyiv

Anton Tenyk has been engaged in farming for the past 5 years. He runs a farm in Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine. Since the Armed Forces of Ukraine de-occupied the right bank of the Kherson region, farmers have decided to get back to work. However, it has proved to be an uphill struggle, as most of the fields were contaminated with mines. Ukrainian military and sappers were clearing these areas of land mines, and Anton and other farmers did not stand aside: they used handheld mine detectors to detect shell casings and mortar shells. When pinpointing an unknown object, they seek professional help.

The farmers turned to their colleagues and charitable foundations for help to get fertilizers, seeds, and diesel fuel. Anton says that overcoming the odds, they managed to sow 800 hectares of sunflower, 400 hectares of barley, and 150 hectares of peas. Now the man is trying to employ all those who return home to the liberated regions of Kherson.

• demining
• Kherson

One of the areas of work of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Ukraine is non-technical survey of the territory and clearance of explosives. The DRC work involves training sappers of the State Emergency Service and volunteer civilians to search for explosive ordnance. Since the contaminated areas are quite large, DRC is raising the number of demining specialists who, after completing their training, will get a job in the organization. Deminers work in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv regions together with the State Emergency Service, because it is sappers who have to remove explosive objects. In addition, the organization provides grant support to those affected by mines or other explosive remnants of war.

For reference: Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s territory has become one of the most contaminated with explosives in the world. According to the UN, it will take dozens of years to demine the country.

• demining
• Chernihiv
• Kharkiv
• Kyiv
• Mykolaiv

Vitalii Kucherenko is a Ukrainian military man with almost 30 years of experience. He has been defending Ukraine since 2014 (he took part in the battles for Ilovaisk, Maryinka, and Avdiivka in particular). He was discharged from military service in 2017. During his service, he faced the major issue of the occupiers’ mining of Ukrainian land and in 2020, founded a private humanitarian company in mine action and later a training center for those wishing to learn the explosive ordnance survey and clearance experts profession. The center operates in the Khmelnytskyi region. There are already 174 people who have taken the course, including about 30 veterans of the Russia-Ukraine war, who are now qualified as demining experts. Currently, Vitalii’s company employs three veterans, and they are preparing to take part in land release operations.

For reference: According to preliminary forecasts, every 10th worker in Ukraine will be a veteran after the war is over. According to a recent study on ex-military employment, over 60% of employers had no experience working with veterans and, accordingly, had no experience recruiting veterans. 

• demining
• russian crimes
• Khmelnytskyi