The European Union has transferred to Ukraine a second batch of bomb disposal dogs trained in EU countries, including Finland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Certification of the dogs and their transfer to the dog handlers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces after a two-week adaptation course took place on Thursday at the Carpathian department of the Border Guard Service of the Republic of Poland in the city of Nowy Sacz (southern Poland), an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
During the ceremony of handing over the dogs to Ukrainian dog handlers, European Commission representative Martin Schaefer emphasized that Russian aggression in Ukraine has led to the fact that Ukraine now has thousands of mines and unexploded ordnance, the disposal of which is a significant challenge for Kiev.
Video: Shimon Prukhnitskyi. Carpathian Department of the Border Service of Poland
The commandant of the Carpathian Department of the Border Guard Service of the Republic of Poland Stanislav Latsyuga noted that the necessary training conditions have been created for European and Ukrainian dog handlers in Nowy Sacz. He expressed hope that the next stages of the transfer of bomb disposal dogs to Ukraine will also take place in this city. The Polish border guard is convinced that the level of training of these dogs will help improve security in Ukraine.
Ukraine faces a significant challenge that no one has faced before: clearing all the areas where these explosive devices are located. This territory occupies the same amount as the combined territories of Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands.
The head of the department for searching for explosive objects with mine detection dogs of the Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Leonid Levchenko, expressed gratitude to European partners for their support and assistance, emphasizing that this cooperation is “a very important step to ensure peace and stability in Eastern Europe.”
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In gratitude for their assistance to Ukraine, the partners of this project from the European Commission and the Border Guard Service of the Republic of Poland were awarded the awards of the Commander of the Armed Forces Support Forces – “Crosses of the Support Forces”.
As Ukrinform reported, the dogs (German, Belgian and Dutch shepherds) were prepared within the framework of a project of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs and the Service for EU Foreign Policy Instruments.
The bomb disposal dogs were trained by retired police dog handlers from EU countries and were trained in Finland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
The training of the dogs lasted several months, and two weeks before the transfer of Ukraine, they arrived in Poland with their guardians. In Poland, the transfer of sapper dogs to new Ukrainian guardians took place.
The sapper dogs transferred to Ukraine by the European Commission will be provided with special shoes, goggles, vests, and food for an adaptation period of up to one month. In addition, the dogs will additionally have special devices that will be attached to their vests. They will help in detecting radioactive elements.
Additionally, as part of this project, the Ukrainian army also received several special drones that will help detect mines and other explosive devices. In particular, the drone will indicate on the electronic map the places where there are metal objects. This will speed up the process of detecting explosives and will help both dogs and deminers in their work.
The estimated budget for this project, which will last until 2025, is 3 million euros. In total, the European Commission will transfer 50 specially trained demining dogs to Ukraine. The first group of nine demining dogs was already transferred to Ukraine in March of this year.
