The Ukrainian National Humanitarian Demining Association is introducing VR technologies into the training of deminers, which will allow them to virtually practice each step in accordance with the procedures established by law in mine action. This was announced live during a national telethon by the head of Demining Control, a non-governmental organisation for advocacy and control over humanitarian demining.
Oleh Deyneka: ‘The Ukrainian National Humanitarian Demining Association is now actively working to introduce all these procedural positions into the educational sector and, based on partnerships with leading scientific and educational institutions, in particular, the specialised collaboration between the Kyiv School of Economics and MIT, to establish an educational cluster that will provide direct specialised training for mine action specialists.’
The guest of the National Tele-Marathon studio also discussed the issue of personal mine protection for deminers with the host of the live broadcast, Iryna Baglay. The head of Demining Control questioned the safety of the widespread technology of Spider-type mine-resistant shoes with a ski platform on four legs, which get stuck in marshy areas and sand. According to the expert, with an average sapper weighing 80-100 kg, excessive leaning on one of these ‘legs’ can create a load that is sufficient to detonate an anti-vehicle mine.
Oleg Deyneka: “That’s why we wanted to present in today’s broadcast the SEVAS Mine Resistant Shoe, which has been tested and certified by the UN and NATO. It has a heavy multilayer sole made of special materials, which, by overlapping their fibre structures, form an internal mesh that resists the force of the explosion and delaminates to take the brunt of the impact. Its cost is about UAH 10,000.”
Another important topic discussed was the problem of illegal sappers who use outdated equipment that is unable to differentiate metals in the soil and endangers the safety of the areas they demine. Oleh Deyneka urged citizens to be vigilant and trust only professional deminers from the State Emergency Service, the Ministry of Defence or specialised humanitarian demining organisations. The head of Demining Control demonstrated in the studio examples of equipment that is currently being seized by law enforcement from so-called ‘black’ deminers.