Not enough explosives technicians: Ukraine calls on the world to help clear its territory of explosives

Roman Petrenko – Friday, 29 April 2022, 10:56

Denys Monastyrskyi, Minister for Internal Affairs of Ukraine, has called on the world’s countries and international organisations to help clear those territories of Ukraine that have been the site of active hostilities of explosives by sending personnel and equipment.  

Source: Monastyrskyi in an interview during the 24/7 national newscast

According to Monastyrskyi: "1 day of hostilities equals 30 days of clearing away explosives.

For example, fighting in Kyiv Region lasted for 30-35 days. Multiply this by 30 and you get the number of days it would take the State Emergency Service to clear away explosives from those territories [approximately 1,5 years].

Spring is here, the ground is being covered by grass, in a week’s time it will already be impossible to identify the explosives visually. It will only be possible using special equipment. In a few months they [the explosive devices] will be 3, 5, 7cm underground due to rain, they won’t be visible at all, but they will still be active.

Currently the SES and its explosives technicians are in high demand; there isn’t enough of them. This is urgent.

We have appealed to the rest of the world. We are making arrangements to ensure that organisations concerned with humanitarian mine clearance in the wake of wars send their technicians to work with us."

Details: Monastyrskyi expects that the first teams of explosives technicians with their own equipment will begin arriving in Ukraine in a couple of weeks’ time.

He also warned that a lot of equipment will have to be deployed and that work to clear explosives will last for years.