The European Union is initiating a new humanitarian program for mine clearance in Ukraine with a €2 million fund.
According to the project, supported by the European Commission's Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), aims to clear areas affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance.
As part of this initiative, 16 Belgian Malinois dogs and eight Ukrainian handlers will be deployed to Ukraine. All have undergone intensive five-month training in Cambodia. These teams will focus on mine clearance in liberated areas, including Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions, which have been severely affected by the conflict.
The Director of FPI, Peter M. Wagner, said: “We are pleased to be able to fund this initiative as part of the EU’s support to improve and scale-up humanitarian mine action in Ukraine. We believe that this innovative project can significantly speed up the clearance of contaminated land and its release for civilian use.”
Most handlers previously trained at Sumy National Agrarian University in Ukraine, where they acquired skills in dog training and manual mine clearance.
The project is being implemented in collaboration with humanitarian organizations APOPO, specializing in using animals for mine clearance, and the Mine Advisory Group (MAG). The canine teams will help accelerate and refine the clearance process, which is crucial in challenging terrains and dense vegetation.
