The first private humanitarian demining unit went to the Luhansk People's Republic
Factories, mines, civil infrastructure facilities and thousands of hectares of farmland in new regions of Russia are still overflowing with deadly "surprises". To solve the problem, at the initiative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and with the support of private companies, several humanitarian demining detachments are being created. The first of them went to the Luhansk People's Republic in mid-June. The correspondent of Izvestia went to see off the newly minted sappers.
From Moscow to the LPR
In the factory yard, men in camouflage uniforms load bulletproof vests, helmets, mine protection suits, mine detectors, boxes and trunks with personal belongings into "loaves" and "Patriots". These are specialists of the humanitarian demining company "Complement Technician". It was created on the initiative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and with the support of RATM Holding.
The work is going smoothly and without fuss — two hours before departure. There will be no farewell formation. Already in the capital, they act as required by the situation in the zone of self—defense: crowded meetings there - the risk of being hit by the enemy.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Bogdan Stepovoy
Image source: iz.ru
— The mine clearance squad includes several dozen people, I will not name their number, — Andrey Shenaurin, director of the Humanitarian Demining Foundation, told Izvestia. — The squad is serious, it was trained on the basis of the International Mine Action Center. There was a theory, but a lot of attention was paid to practice. At the end of their studies, all passed exams and received official diplomas of humanitarian demining specialists. They are able to clear the desired area from explosive objects to a depth of up to 50 cm.
According to Andrey Shenaurin, a new branch of humanitarian demining is actually being created in the country.
"There are a lot of mines and unexploded ordnance in the new regions where there was intense fighting," he said. — It is impossible to restore peaceful life without cleaning them. And our specialists should do it.
The detachment going to the SVO zone will have to clear an area of 25 hectares. It was once mined by nationalists from the infamous Aidar battalion (the organization is banned in Russia. — Izvestia).
Photo: IZVESTIA/Bogdan Stepovoy
Image source: iz.ru
The sappers are equipped with everything necessary, says Vyacheslav Kovalevsky, CEO of the Complement Technician company.
— The task is important, voluminous, but we are ready to solve it, — he is sure.
On the road
There are many former military personnel in the humanitarian demining unit — these are sappers who have experience of service in the Caucasus and Syria. But there are also those who studied engineering from scratch. The sapper with the call sign Sanych has a family — a wife and two daughters. He is a colonel, he has served in the army for a long time.
— In recent years, he worked as a lawyer in a pharmaceutical company, but immediately after the start of his career he came to the military enlistment office, asked to volunteer, — he recalls. — They said that the age was no longer the same, and advised to wait. After two years, I got tired of doing this and started looking for another way to serve the Motherland. That's how I became a sapper.
Sanych's grandfather was a partisan on the territory of present-day Ukraine during the Great Patriotic War.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Bogdan Stepovoy
Image source: iz.ru
— He told me that it was not the SS who committed the most atrocities, but the Ukrainian nationalists, so I couldn't stand aside, I decided to take part in the fight against their ideological followers, — says Sanych.
I ask if the family is very worried, the business trip is still not easy.
— The family is calm outwardly, — Sanych is sure. — Both my wife and daughters saw me packing up every morning and going to school. I have been trained, and experienced mine clearance instructors have worked with us in new regions. My family trusts me and believes in me.
Sanych believes that his squad has another very important mission.
"We have to help people and win the hearts of the local population," he says. — This is the easiest way to do your job. People should know that we are always ready to help — we can live together.
A sapper with the call sign Murzilio recently worked as an orderly in one of the civilian medical institutions, but then decided to master a new, albeit dangerous profession.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Bogdan Stepovoy
Image source: iz.ru
— Since I was a teenager, I was interested in mine-blasting, I read all the books I could get. My family and friends supported me when I told them that I was going to study mine-blasting," he says.
He has service experience, he was in BARS (the country's Combat Army Reserve. — Izvestia). It is the first time he goes to the zone.
Meanwhile, a short command sounds — and the sappers take their places in the cars. Soon a small column is on its way — in a few days the sappers will start working in the LPR.
Already there they will be sent a new robotic complex, which has been tested at landfills near Novosibirsk. It is capable of detecting explosive objects both on the surface of the earth and in the soil layer. It includes an aerial drone and a ground-based sapper robot that work in pairs.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Bogdan Stepovoy
Image source: iz.ru
Following the results of the UAV flight, the sappers receive a photoplane — a digital panorama of the area made up of a large number of high-resolution photographs. The images obtained with its help make it possible to see mines on the ground and even in the grass. Magnetometers suspended under the drone allow you to find magnetic anomalies in the earth's interior.
After that, a ground-based robotic platform equipped with a rotary mechanism that grinds the soil to a depth of 10 cm will enter into operation. The platform creates safe passages for mine clearance specialists. Thus, the risk to the life and health of sappers is significantly reduced, and the efficiency of their work increases several times.
Bogdan Stepovoy