The Ministry of Internal Affairs has improved the methodology, innovation and technology of humanitarian demining. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Bohdan Drapyatyi during the panel discussion “Strategic Approach to Demining: Achievements and Challenges” at the Demine Ukraine Forum held in Kyiv on 2 December. The forum was opened by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. The event was attended by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Masashi Nakagome, as well as representatives of central executive authorities, international organisations, business and civil society.

The Head of Government said that demining Ukraine was an investment in the future and a contribution to a better tomorrow. He thanked everyone who was making this contribution now and who would make it in the future.

“We have studied the best international experience in humanitarian demining. And we continue to study it and implement it in our work,” said Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Bohdan Drapyatyi in his speech.

According to him, thanks to the unity of the international coalition for humanitarian demining, which includes more than 50 states and organisations, Ukraine is able to provide Ukrainian deminers with modern equipment, innovative solutions and protective equipment.

“This, in turn, allows us to increase the number of units. At the beginning of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the total number of deminers in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was about 900, and today it has increased to 2,500,” the Deputy Minister said.

He reminded that the State Emergency Service, the National Police and the National Guard were responsible for demining within the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“Thanks to the assistance of our international partners, we are able to provide them with even more appropriate equipment and personal protective equipment. For example, today the Ministry of Internal Affairs has 81 mechanised demining vehicles, which enables us to clear the territories much more efficiently and, above all, to protect the lives of our deminers from explosive devices. The safety of the deminer is a key priority for us,” said Bohdan Drapyatyi.

He also noted that the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, had clearly defined the priorities for further development in the field of improving the quality and dynamics of demining. All these priorities are fully consistent with the National Mine Action Strategy up to 2033.

In particular, the Register of areas contaminated or likely to be contaminated by explosive ordnance is being created as a geographic information system.

“Its creation will help improve the coherence and coordination of mine action actors, as well as prioritise tasks,” the Deputy Minister explained.

The next step is to introduce innovative solutions. In this area, the SES is actively testing unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with magnetic detectors to detect explosive objects.

“Our experts are ready to improve innovative solutions of both national and international production,” he said.

In addition, he emphasised, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Emergency Service have taken the initiative to contact the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine to establish cooperation in the following areas

• application of artificial intelligence;
• use of unmanned aerial vehicles with additional equipment;
• development and implementation of robotic systems;
• improvement and modernisation of existing models of equipment.

Another important priority for further developing capabilities and increasing the effectiveness of humanitarian demining is the localisation of the production of special machinery and equipment in Ukraine, as well as the creation of hubs for their maintenance.

“No other country has ever conducted humanitarian demining under conditions as challenging as ours. Despite constant shelling, our deminers achieve maximum results in the most dangerous environments,” said Bohdan Drapyatyi.

He thanked for the great diplomatic work done by Ukrainian diplomats and the President of Ukraine, which had resulted in 28 security agreements.

“And each of these agreements has a section on humanitarian demining. This makes it possible to predict an increase in the further level of our cooperation at the institutional level,” the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs concluded.