The European Union has handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine 50 sapper dogs and drones for demining.
This was reported by the Ukrinform news agency.
Belgian, Dutch and German shepherd dogs were trained in Finland, Belgium, and Luxembourg for several months.
The training of the dogs was carried out by retired K9 police officers from EU countries.
They will be provided with special shoes, goggles, vests, and fodder. They will also have special devices on vests that are designed to detect radioactive elements.
The certification of dogs and their transfer to cynologists took place in the Carpathian Border Guard Regional Unit in the city of Nowy Sącz.
The representative of the European Commission, Mr. Martin Schieffer, attended the ceremony. He emphasized that Russian aggression against Ukraine led to the contamination of Ukrainian territory with explosive devices.
“Ukraine faces a significant challenge that no one has faced before: cleaning up all the territories that have these explosive devices. This territory occupies the same amount as the total territories of Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands,” said Schieffer.
Leonid Levchenko, Head of the Department for the Search for Explosive Objects by detection dogs of the Command of the Support Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, expressed gratitude to European partners for their support and assistance.
He stressed that this cooperation is “a very important step to ensure peace and stability in Eastern Europe.”
The Armed Forces also received several special drones that will help detect mines and other explosive devices.
Recall that Militarnyi reported on developing the Ukrainian ST1 UAV, which is designed to search for mines.
The estimated cost of the European project, which will last until 2025, is 3 million euros.
It is reported that the European Commission will transfer 50 specially trained sapper dogs to Ukraine. The first group of nine sapper dogs was already transferred to Ukraine in March 2023.