Ukrainian official: 'Demining machines sent from Azerbaijan will speed up our work' - PHOTO REPORTAGE

A demining machine was sent from Azerbaijan to Ukraine as part of humanitarian aid.

Report's Eastern Europe Bureau visited the area where the equipment was received and prepared a photo report.

Currently, due to harsh weather conditions in the country, the mass demining process has been briefly interrupted. Towards the spring, the relevant institutions of Ukraine will start this process with a new force, in which the special demining machine sent by Azerbaijan will play a key role. The instructor of the State Service of Ukraine said that during the war, a number of areas of the country were contaminated with various mines. This machine is good against most mines. Although the machine is currently located in Poltava, it will be used in different regions.

Dmytro Beskosti, acting head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine for Poltava Oblast, said that Azerbaijani specialists trained them in the operation of the machine. Employees of the State Emergency Service will soon start clearing mines in the relevant areas. He hopes that Azerbaijan will provide this machine again: "During November-December last year, we received a mechanized demining machine from Azerbaijan. This is an important help for the work of our fortifiers since a large part of the territory of Ukraine was contaminated with various mines."

He added that Ukraine is returning to normal life and gaining access to all free territories: "Today, this machine is the first example of an Azerbaijani vehicle in Ukraine. We look forward to future cooperation and are very grateful for such help. Azerbaijani specialists gave lessons to our pyrotechnicians for almost a month. Our experts were informed about the features of this equipment, such as working conditions, maintenance conditions, and repair procedures."

"We hope that we will be able to use it in practice in the near future when the need arises. At this time, we will have better information about the quality of work and its advantages. There will be more of these types of machines over time. Dangerous areas contaminated with mines make up about 174,000 square kilometers. This is actually 30% of the territory of Ukraine.

"The duration of demining after the war will depend on many factors. The first factor is the amount of such equipment. The second factor is both the number of people who can operate this equipment and the fact that the vast majority of areas will be demined manually," he noted.