![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/ukraine-war-training-to-clear-the-worlds-most-heavily-mined-country/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/131227277_cf8812c43cc777d61e79675fcd532d51a6671676.jpg&description=Image caption, The Ukrainians are "very quick" to learn mine clearing techniques, says British Staff Sgt Kevin Engstrom Specialist British military bomb disposal teams are training Ukrainian engineers to clear Russian minefields. Ukraine is now the most heavily mined country in the world, and it's slowing down Ukrainian military advances. The training by British Army sappers - combat engineers, some of whom faced similar obstacles in Afghanistan - was specifically requested by Ukraine. The BBC is the first news organisation to visit the military base in Poland where the training has been taking place. Most of the Ukrainian engineers, like Denys, are already battle-hardened and experienced. He volunteered to fight the day after Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. This brief visit to Poland is the first time he's left Ukraine since 2021, the first time he's seen passenger jets flying overhead in nearly two years. Denys calls Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) the most dangerous job in the world. "We need more sappers," he says, "we don't have enough of them". I ask him if he's lost friends doing this dangerous work. His eyes well with tears as he nods. He says he appreciates the help being given by his British brothers in arms, but says Ukraine still needs more Western help and equipment to clear the Russian minefields. "We can't do it on our own," he says. Denys says that even if the war ended tomorrow, it would still take hundreds of years to clear the mines that have now been laid. Russia has been producing and laying mines on an industrial scale in Ukraine. They're now scattered over an area the size of Florida; the minefields can be up to 10km (6.2 miles) deep. Just one square metre can contain as many as five explosives. Image caption, Ukrainian engineers are being shown how to safely clear anti-tank, anti-personnel, and bounding mines At the military base in Poland, more than 20 dummy devices have been buried and booby-trapped by the small UK tr){kind=link}
Specialist British military bomb disposal teams are training Ukrainian engineers to clear Russian minefields.
Ukraine is now the most heavily mined country in the world, and it’s slowing down Ukrainian military advances. The training by British Army sappers – combat engineers, some of whom faced similar obstacles in Afghanistan – was specifically requested by Ukraine.
The BBC is the first news organisation to visit the military base in Poland where the training has been taking place.
Most of the Ukrainian engineers, like Denys, are already battle-hardened and experienced.
He volunteered to fight the day after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. This brief visit to Poland is the first time he’s left Ukraine since 2021, the first time he’s seen passenger jets flying overhead in nearly two years.