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https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-ukraine-is-the-worlds-most-heavily-mined-country-meet-some-of-the-people-cleaning-up-this-deadly-mess-245032>
"Serhii Shmyrov and Pavlo Mykyento move slowly, deliberately, working as a
team. Both men wear full-torso body armour and face shields, along with thick
jackets. Winter has arrived in northern Ukraine and the wind blows cold across
the fields.
Mykyento swings the arm of the South Australian-made metal detector in a broad
arc before him. As he moves forward, step by step, Shmyrov follows, marking the
narrow corridor they have cleared of landmines and unexploded ordnance with red
and white pegs.
Depending on the level of contamination the pair find, they can cover about 150
square metres a day. It’s dangerous, monotonous work.
Around us, a forest of red and white pegs mark out previously cleared areas.
Scattered among these are several taller yellow pegs marking the locations of
detected mines and unexploded ordnance, or UXO. A couple of hastily-dug Russian
foxholes in which troops once hid gape nearby. And just beyond, a red and white
sign with the distinctive skull and crossbones symbol and the words:
STOP–MINES.
Walking beyond that line of pegs could be fatal.
I have joined a team from The HALO Trust, the largest de-mining NGO operating
in Ukraine, in an area about 70 kilometres north and east of Kyiv, near the
settlement of Bervytsia."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
