Minister: Foreign donors pledge $244 million for demining Ukraine
International donors pledged $244 million to assist Ukraine in demining work, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on July 25.
The funds will be provided by the governments of the U.S., Japan, Germany, the U.K., Norway, Sweden, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, South Korea, the EU, and the Howard Buffett Foundation.
In addition, Ukraine will receive ten demining systems from the Croatian company DOK-ING and ten more from the Switzerland-based Global Clearance Solutions.
Further aid will include almost 200 pyrotechnic machines, over 600 metal detectors, 50 demolition machines, individual demining kits, protective suits, quadcopters, and robotic systems for ammunition disposal.
DOK-ING and the Danish company Hydrema also agreed to set up production in Ukraine, Svyrydenko informed.
On July 18, Lithuania proposed an international coalition to assist Ukraine in demining efforts. Under its framework, countries would assist Kyiv with training and provide demining equipment.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, over 200,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land – roughly one-third of its territory – have been mined by Russian forces as of June. Ukraine has so far received less than 15% of the requested demining equipment from the West, the Washington Post reported on July 16.
The outlet also wrote that clearing Ukraine of mines would take the 500 currently operational teams 757 years to complete.
