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Transcript/ScriptUkraine Mines - Bakalets
HEADLINE: Crews at work ridding Ukraine of land mines, other explosives
TEASER: Pyrotechnicians are already disarming hundreds of mines a day areas no longer occupied by Russia
PUBLISHED AT: 06/05/2022 at 7:42 pm
BYLINE: Lesia Bakalets
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: Lesia Bakalets
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: KE; Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB TV X only RADIO __
TRT: 3:07
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[The United Nations estimates Ukraine is now one of the most mined countries in the world. In territories no longer occupied by Russia, pyrotechnicians are now disarming hundreds of mines a day. VOA’s Lesia Bakalets reports.]]
((NARRATION))
Ukrainian deminer Mykhaylo Ilyev is clearing Russian mines in areas Ukraine has retaken in the northern part of the country. He says he’s never seen this many mines.
((SOT: Mykhaylo Ilyev, Ukraine State Emergency Service ((IN UKRAINIAN)) ((WhatsApp))
26:55 "We have already destroyed more than 21 thousand explosive objects // 27:35 Right now, we are clearing mines in villages the Russian army used to occupy so that people can safely and calmly return to their homes."
((NARRATION))
((сourtesy: Holovne Upravlinnya DSNS U Chernihivsʹkiy Oblasti ))
He and his team work from morning to evening, seven days a week. His sapper dog, a Jack Russell terrier named Patron, helps find the mines.
The dog has become an international star and received an award from
((End courtesy))
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
((SOT: Mykhaylo Ilyev, Ukraine State Emergency Service ((IN UKRAINIAN)) ((WhatsApp))
“37:14 When the metal detector turns on, it beeps a certain signal. The dog concentrates on this, understands when the signal increases, hears when the detector gives the final signal, and then begins to dig.”
((NARRATION))
((сourtesy: Holovne Upravlinnya DSNS U Chernihivsʹkiy Oblasti ))
Ilyev and his team are performing what they call operational demining, responding to reports of explosives called in by residents. The next stage is humanitarian demining — guaranteeing that an area is safe.
((End courtesy))
((video: zoom_Timur ))
((SOT: Timur Pistriuga, Ukrainian Deminers Association (IN UKRAINIAN))) ((Zoom))
“It is the much longer type of demining. //03:45 The end result of humanitarian demining is the transfer of land back to its owner.”
((NARRATION))
((courtesy: Ukrainian Deminers Association))
There are a few groups working in the region. In addition to the Ukrainian Deminers Association,
((End courtesy))
((Mandatory courtesy: The Halo Trust))
there’s the international group Halo.
((End courtesy))
((SOT: James Cowan, The Halo Trust CEO (IN ENGLISH)))
00:19 "Halo is already in Ukraine. We employed four hundred and thirty people. We've been working there since 2016. So I went to visit my program and to see how we can adjust in the light of the current conflict. So we're moving really from working just in the Donbas to now working across the country.”
((NARRATION))
((Mandatory courtesy: The State Emergency Service of Ukraine))
The State Emergency Service says it’s not just roads and fields that are mined but residential areas, cars, even cemeteries. And Halo Trust CEO
((End courtesy))
James Cowan says they’re finding all kinds of explosive materials.
((SOT: James Cowan, The Halo Trust CEO (IN ENGLISH)))
09:00 "There is a mix of land mines, air-delivered munitions, artillery shells, rocket shells, booby traps and lots of different things."
((NARRATION))
It’s an expensive, dangerous, time-consuming process.
((video: zoom_Timur ))
((SOT: Timur Pistriuga, Ukrainian Deminers Association (IN UKRAINIAN))) ((Zoom))
22:37 "That's hundreds of billions of dollars, because cleaning a square meter of land costs about 3-4 dollars. // 19:25 The area where humanitarian demining is to be carried out is currently about 132,000 square kilometers.”
((NARRATION))
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine estimates that twice as much territory will need to be treated …
… and that it might take decades to fully demine Ukraine once the war is over.
((Lesia Bakalets, for VOA News, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)in Washington D.C.
Embargo DateJune 5, 2022 19:55 EDT
Byline
((Lesia Bakalets, for VOA News, Washington))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
