Sumy sappers-canines and Belgian shepherds help demining Mykolaiv Oblast

Minesweepers-canines from Sumy region together with Belgian shepherds continue to clear mines in the Mykolaiv region, this is already their fourth rotation.

This was reported by the press service of the State Emergency Service in the Mykolaiv region.

The agency noted that the Belgian Malinois Alf and Derek, along with their handlers Yevhen and Maxim, sappers-canines from the Interregional Rapid Response Center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, are currently helping to demine the region.

The head of the department of mine-search works, two sappers-canines, two drivers-sappers, an ambulance driver and a paramedic also work as part of the calculation.

Thanks to the work of canine groups in the Mykolaiv region, more than 57 hectares of territory have already been examined and cleaned, and 316 units of explosive objects have been found.

We will remind that in Mykolaiv region in October, farmers received another 2.4 thousand hectares of agricultural land for use, which were cleared of mines and explosives.

It was previously reported that as of October 21, pyrotechnic units destroyed 26,724 munitions in the Mykolaiv region.

Previously, it was told how to act if you found a mine: instructions from rescuers.

Read also the article NikVesti «We didn't wait for them to do it for us»: how in just one year Nibulon cleared 98% of its fields in Mykolaiv region.»

We will remind that chef Olha Martynovska prepared vegetable caviar from products grown on demined lands of the Mykolaiv region.

How is the demining of the Mykolaiv Oblast going on?

Ukraine recently updated the country's priority demining plan. According to it, more than 512,000 hectares of agricultural land are subject to priority demining, of which 44,000 hectares are in Mykolaiv Oblast.

As of December 2023, 30% of the territory of the Mykolaiv region has been mined. In total, it is 754 thousand hectares of land.

At the same time, they are working on demining in the region. For example, as of October 2023, 13 thousand 40 hectares, including 9 thousand 25 hectares of agricultural land, have been demined in the Mykolayiv region.

Dmytro Komarov, the author of the «World Inside Out.Ukraine» project, visited the mined territories of the Mykolaiv region and showed the work of local sappers. NikVesti also told about a farmer from Kyselivka who is trying to demine his fields on his own.

About 30,000-35,000 hectares of land remain mined in the Bashtanka district of the Mykolaiv region, part of which was under occupation. And in the village of Maksymivka of Pervomaisk community of Mykolaiv region, locals live with an unexploded shell under the foundation of the house.

In general, the demining situation in Maksymivka is currently critical. A year after liberation from the Russian occupiers , the village was demined by only 40%.

Read also the article NikVesti «Decades are needed: How the demining process of the Mykolaiv region continues.»