Azerbaijan gave us a demining machine, which was tested in Poltava region and is now doing great work in Kharkiv region, Ruslan Strilets is the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine said in an interview to Vesti.az, APA reports.
"In 2022, when we realized that a third of the country's territory was mined, we calculated that it would take 700 years to clear Ukraine of mines. Because we didn't have any specialists, machines, equipment, or experience. But after that, the government of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine made certain decisions and we launched the demining market. Thus, we currently have 4500 experts for demining operation, we have more than 60 vehicles for demining.
In 2023, we cleared 18,000 square kilometers of mines in just one year. We cleared this territory not only of mines, but also of unexploded ordnance," the minister noted.
According to the minister, of course, this does not mean that they have good facilities, enough equipment and enough staff: "No. We must admit that the territory of Ukraine is large and we have a large territory to demine. The war does not stop. So, we don't know now what the situation will be like potentially a month, two months from now. I hope to liberate more and more of our territory and carry out this demining as soon as possible. But the war is still ongoing."
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