Lithuania and Sweden will buy pickups and trucks for demining in Ukraine

This decision was made at a meeting of coalition partners held in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. The purchases include pickups and trucks for the needs of the Ukrainian military and SSTS.

Participants at the event, including representatives from partner countries, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and the Support Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, discussed further cooperation plans and agreed on a list of purchases for humanitarian and combat demining. The roadmap project for the development of demining capabilities up to 2034 was also considered.

Colonel Ruslan Berehulya, head of the Main Directorate for Mine Action of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, emphasized the importance of humanitarian demining in liberated territories, while Major General Dmytro Hereha thanked partner countries for their support and the supply of necessary equipment for engineering units.

The coalition, led by Lithuania and Iceland, aims to build the capabilities of the combat and humanitarian demining units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and SSTS.

Demining in Ukraine

As a result of the full-scale invasion by Russia, significant territories in Ukraine have been mined, but state services are gradually carrying out demining operations.

Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko reported that currently, about 30% of demining specialists are women, and the government intends to increase their participation in this area.

Additionally, the European Union is launching a new humanitarian demining program in Ukraine, allocating €2 million for this purpose.

Furthermore, Switzerland and Ukraine will hold a conference on mine action (UMAC2024) on October 17 and 18 in Lausanne. The main goal of the event is to emphasize the importance of humanitarian demining for the recovery of Ukraine after the war.