Demining training programme for veterans to be expanded in 2025 with support from EU and Japan

Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravaynyi said this in a commentary to Ukrinform during a practical open class as part of a mechanized demining course for veterans with disabilities.

"This is the second pilot course and it has proved to be successful. While we recruited 12 people for the first course, there was a competition for the second course - ten people per place. Now the European Union and Japan are interested in the project, which opens up prospects for its expansion," Bezkaravanyi said.

According to him, during the training, the veterans learn how to work with equipment available on the Ukrainian market - GCS, Bozena, DOK-ING machines, as well as basic metal detectors and software.

“We expect that after completing the course, the veterans will be able to find employment with humanitarian demining organizations. Each organization additionally trains its staff to work in contaminated areas - it's a natural process,’ said Edward Crowther, a Humanitarian Mine Action Field Operations Advisor with the UNDP Ukraine.

Bezkaravaynyi also noted that to operate a demining machine, which can cost up to a million dollars, it is necessary to undergo an in-depth training course.

As well as working in the field, veterans can also choose to work in data analysis and satellite imagery. Mykola Dehtiariov (call sign 'Bob'), a participant in the programme, chose this area.

“After being discharged from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, I decided to apply for a job in humanitarian demining, where I can be useful again. Due to my health problems, it will be difficult for me to work in the field, but the non-technical survey and image analysis field allows me to work directly in the office. So even veterans like me, who cannot stand, sit or walk for long periods of time, can return to a useful life," he said.

Mykola is a food processing engineer by training and has worked as a chef. After the start of the full-scale invasion, he returned to Ukraine from abroad and joined the infantry. In 2023, he was discharged due to a spinal injury that required an implant.

As Ukrinform reported, veterans with disabilities pay more attention to demining machines during the second mine action training course organized by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with funding from Sweden.