Currently, the State Emergency Service has 37 mechanised demining vehicles, and at least 30 more are needed. This was stated by Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

“I have repeatedly given an example of their effectiveness. One day’s operation of such a machine is equivalent to 100 days of manual labour. That is a dry statistic,” the Minister said.

At the same time, he stressed that the Ministry of Internal Affairs still did not place absolute trust in the equipment alone. Therefore, after the vehicles, deminers go through and additionally inspect the territory.

“The result is important for us. There is no room for mistakes,” said Ihor Klymenko.

He also noted that more modern equipment was needed not only to speed up the process of clearing land of explosive ordnance, but also to save the lives of employees.

“How many more demining machines do we need? At least 30 more mechanised demining vehicles at this stage. We need special vehicles not only for demining but also for transporting the explosive devices that have already been removed,” the Interior Minister concluded.