EU Hands Sapper Dogs and Search Drones to Ukraine [PHOTO, VIDEO]
The headquarters of the Carpathian Border Guard Detachment in Poland hosted a ceremonial handover of 8 more sapper dogs trained under a European Commission project in Belgium, Luxembourg and Finland to the Ukrainian military. An adaptation camp in Novyi Sonch and the surrounding area was held, in part, on the basis of KaOSG infrastructure.
The first nine dogs were handed over in March this year and have been working together with their Ukrainian handlers for several months now, helping to clear Ukraine of mines.
Now, another group of dogs will join the Ukrainian army, supporting Ukraine not only in de-mining the country or detecting explosives, but also in detecting radioactive materials.
The service dogs sent to Ukraine underwent a 14-day adaptation period in Poland at the Carpathian Border Guard Detachment, during which Ukrainian guides had the opportunity to get to know their new charges.
The ceremony was attended by, among others: Martin Schiefer, Director of the European Commission, representatives of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Poland - Oleksandr Popov and Mykola Granovskyi, dog handlers from Austria, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg and Malta, as well as officers and soldiers of the Ukrainian services led by Capt Leonid Levchenko.
The official speeches were followed by a presentation of the dogs' skills in detecting charges and explosives.
The European Commission has also provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with metal detecting drones to support the work of deminers, especially in large areas where demining takes a long time.
The European Commission's project for Ukraine involves the training of a total of 50 dogs that will serve Ukraine in the fight against Russia's attack on their country.
The European Commission's pilot programme is aimed at detecting radiological materials that may have been removed from hospitals after the Russian invasion and hidden by criminals.
Specially trained dogs will be equipped with devices to detect these substances during searches of the liberated territories.
This initiative is part of the European Commission's overall efforts to combat chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats and explosives.
The project is being implemented in full compliance with EU animal welfare regulations.
To date, not a single dog has been killed or injured while performing explosive detection or demining tasks.
