Ukraine asks for int'l assistance in mine-clearing efforts
Xinhua, February 4, 2016 Adjust font size:
Ukraine appealed to the international community Wednesday for technical help and advice to clear the landmines that had been planted during a conflict between government troops and pro-independence rebels.
"We need serious international help in resolving this issue, from providing appropriate modern equipment to recommendations on how to carry out the demining process and conduct a public awareness campaign among the civilian population," Irina Gerashchenko, the presidential envoy on settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine, said after meeting with a UN special mission to Ukraine.
Gerashchenko said the government considers unexploded ordnance in the eastern region as an urgent issue that needs to be solved now and pledged that the mine-clearing efforts would be intensified.
Ukraine will better coordinate military and civil agencies involved in the relief operation to speed up the operations, Gerashchenko added.
About 30,000 square kilometers of battlefields in eastern Ukraine remain infested with explosive devices from the conflict, which started in April 2014.
Last year, 25 people, including four children, were killed and 70 others wounded in landmine explosions in the Donetsk region. The official data for the mine-related casualties in the neighboring Lugansk region was not disclosed. Endi