Ukraine has received a GCS-200 heavy demining vehicle from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The equipment was handed over during the Ukraine Mine Action Conference (UMAC-2024), which is taking place in Lausanne on 17-18 October. The handover ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Ihor Bezkaravaynyi and Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Bohdan Drapyatyi. In total, Switzerland will hand over three demining vehicles over the course of the year, which will be used by demining units of the State Emergency Service.

“Each demining vehicle donated by our partners means an increase in our humanitarian demining capabilities. It also means greater safety for deminers working in the fields. I thank Switzerland for their contribution to humanitarian demining, which helps both with demining equipment and machinery, as well as sharing expertise and assisting in the implementation of our joint projects,” said Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravainyi.

Switzerland is one of the leading countries in terms of humanitarian demining assistance. The total amount of pledged and delivered assistance is over 134 million in dollar terms. Switzerland finances demining projects and provides technical support for the destruction of mines and other explosive ordnance. It also supports programmes to educate the local population on safe methods of handling them.

In addition to providing three demining systems, the programme also includes a comprehensive package of training, guidance and logistical support.

The GCS-200 is a heavy remotely operated vehicle for clearing areas of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. It is capable of clearing explosive devices at a depth of up to 30 centimetres. The advantage of the machine is its interchangeable modules, which allow for the removal of explosive remnants of war and their safe handling. As of today, the SES demining units have 12 GCS-200 heavy demining vehicles.