EU allocates €2 million for new mine clearance initiative in Ukraine

The European Union is allocating €2 million to fund a new initiative for humanitarian mine clearance in Ukraine.

Source: the press service of the EU Delegation in Kyiv, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Under the initiative, 16 Belgian Malinois will be the first technical survey dogs to be deployed in Ukraine. The initiative is funded by a €2 million grant from the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments.

Together with eight Ukrainian female handlers, the dogs underwent intensive five-month training in Cambodia before heading back to Ukraine.

Many handlers had previously studied dog training at Ukraine’s Sumy National Agrarian University. They also received training in manual mine clearance during their dog handler course.

The project is being implemented jointly by humanitarian demining organisations APOPO, which specialises in training animals for mine clearance, and the Mines Advisory Group (MAG).

A large part of Ukraine is contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance, including cluster munitions.

The dogs will support both manual and mechanised mine clearance operations in the liberated areas of Ukraine, specifically in Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv oblasts.

The dog teams will help increase the speed and accuracy of demining contaminated areas, especially in settlements with dense vegetation or rugged terrain.

Background:

• On 16 July, the US Department of State handed over more mine clearance equipment worth US$5.8 million to Ukraine's State Special Transport Service.
• On 1 July, Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria launched joint mine clearance operations in the Black Sea.

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