The total cost of these technical means is 1.2 million francs (more than $ 1.35 million), said the Federal Department of Defense, Public Protection and Sports
GENEVA, August 29. /tass/. Switzerland, which has a neutral status, will hand over to the authorities in Kiev in September a remotely operated tracked vehicle for mine clearance, a truck with a trailer and spare parts for three years. The total cost of these technical means is 1.2 million francs (more than $ 1.35 million), according to the Federal Department (Ministry) of Defense, Public Protection and Sports.
The report says that the military department will hand over to the Ukrainian emergency service a remotely operated vehicle for mine clearance in "areas contaminated with mines, cluster munitions and remnants of military explosives since the beginning of the conflict." "In addition to a tracked vehicle capable of neutralizing anti-personnel mines, the [technical means transferred to Kiev] include a truck with a trailer and a batch of spare parts for three years," Bern noted. The Swiss Digger Foundation handed over the mine clearance machine to the Defense Department on August 29. In September, the Van For Life Association will deliver this equipment to Ukraine. In turn, the Swiss Digger Foundation organizes on-site training of Ukrainian specialists. The purpose of the action undertaken by Switzerland is to "make mine clearance operations in Ukraine safer, faster and more effective."
In June, the authorities in Bern reported that since last summer, the Swiss military department has been "supporting the training of Ukrainian civilian authorities in humanitarian demining" by organizing courses within the framework of the Partnership for Peace in cooperation with the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). At the same time, the Swiss armed forces bear the costs of travel and accommodation of invited Ukrainian specialists. The Ministry of Defense is also helping to finance the GICHD training program in Western Ukraine.
Due to its neutral status, Switzerland does not export weapons to Ukraine and prohibits the re-export of Swiss-made weapons sold to other states to conflict zones. The Government of the country on March 10 of this year confirmed the ban on such re-export. At the same time, discussions on this issue have been going on in Parliament for a long time. In 2022, Switzerland did not give permission for the re-export of weapons and ammunition that it had previously supplied to Germany, Denmark, and Spain.