Sappers in Donbass often encounter such explosive objects
Non-magnetic minesweeper kits have been supplied to the humanitarian demining service operating in Donbass. They include mine markers made of durable plastic material, sapper probes with two dielectric needles, humanitarian demining markers made of fiberglass and other equipment that does not contain metal elements. Experts note that they allow you to work with mines equipped with magnetic fuses — there are especially many of them coming to the zone from NATO countries.
What is included in the clearance kit
A special protective bag has been developed for humanitarian demining sappers, divided into cells in which all the contents are stored. She has special runners, which allows you to pull her along the ground. When clearing mines, the bag is attached with a cord with a carbine to a bulletproof vest and moves after the sapper. This solution allows sappers to free their hands, which is very important when performing mine clearance tasks, since you need to hold a mine detector in one hand and a sapper probe in the other.
"The set also includes various colored markers for humanitarian demining, which are defined by the standards of operational procedures," the executive director of the Yarl manufacturing company told Izvestia. — For a humanitarian demining specialist, this is their own specific language, which they understand in a mine-hazardous area.
The set includes markers in the amount of 33 pieces with a length of 65-70 cm, made of high-quality fiberglass. A marker with a blue headband determines the place of the beginning and end of work on the strip, serves for the convenience of measuring an area cleared of explosive objects (VOP). A marker with a red headband determines the location of the VOP, a marker with a yellow headband — the place of destruction of the VOP, a marker with a white headband is used to fence safe places, elements of the work site. In addition, the kit is equipped with two probes. The first is the main sapper probe with dielectric needles to determine the boundaries and further classify mines. The second probe is designed to detect stretch marks. It is made of flexible plastic.
In addition, the kit includes a minesweeper cat with a cord. Up to 30% of the mines are set to be unrecoverable and destroyed by overhead charges. And in cases of impossibility, they are pulled off on the spot by a cat from a safe distance or from a shelter, the specialist said.
For the excavation of discovered mines and other explosive objects, the set includes triangular knives, small blades made of titanium or plastic, in the amount of three pieces. They are used depending on the hardness of the soil.
All elements of the set are made of high-quality domestic materials. Before the development, manufacturers consulted with sappers engaged in humanitarian demining in new territories.
— Now they have begun to set tricky traps that work on a magnetic field — on metal, of course, first of all, — said Vyacheslav Kovalevsky, General Director of the engineering company "Complement Technician". — The bomb squad is forbidden to take a phone with them. Firstly, so as not to distract. Secondly, in order not to transfer geolocation to the enemy for the use of rocket and artillery weapons.
Find and neutralize
Our sappers certainly need such kits, military expert Yuri Lyamin told Izvestia.
"Mines that react to metal and explode when it approaches are supplied to the Ukrainian side in fairly large quantities by Western countries," he said. — They are used very actively. Such mines are very sensitive, and there have already been cases of explosions. The battlefield has changed. Mines are no longer only buried in the ground, and they are undermined not only by being stepped on or run over.
Magnetic and other booby traps are used to increase enemy losses and inflict more injuries, the chairman of the board of the all-Russian organization "Officers of Russia", Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shkurlatov, told Izvestia.
— It is difficult for sappers to neutralize them, — the expert noted. — Thus, the enemy achieves another goal: it does not allow to clear the area well and quickly, increases the time of work. This slows down the progress of our forces, prevents the use of land for peaceful purposes.
In addition, Yuriy Lyamin recalled that Ukrainian troops were actively mining the territory of Donbass even before their own.
— The Armed Forces of Ukraine not only laid mines, but also threw remote mining systems at populated areas, — he recalled. — In recent years, due to the frequency of use of this mining method, it has become a serious problem.
Humanitarian demining in new territories
Humanitarian demining companies have started operating in the liberated territories this year. The main task of their employees is to remove all explosive and metal objects at a depth of up to 50 cm. Only after that, the land can be returned to economic circulation. Military sappers, as a rule, do not conduct total demining — they clear passages for safe supply or advance of troops.
Earlier, Izvestia wrote how one of these companies, Complit Technik, cleared a clearing with power transmission poles and an adjacent forest area in the Luhansk People's Republic of explosive objects.
The territory turned out to be difficult. Before the start of the SVO, a camp of one of the Ukrainian nationalist battalions was located not far from it. In the spring of 2022, there were battles in this area, the troops of the LPR and the Russian Federation broke through the enemy's defenses. Having defeated the Ukrainian units, they quickly moved forward, clearing only the narrow passages that ensure the advance of the troops.
After preliminary demining, the sappers had to cut down the forest "undercoat", and only then they began the final, more detailed and thorough work on the search and detection of explosive objects.
Bogdan Stepovoy
