Estonian rescuers transfer demining equipment worth EUR 337,000 to Ukraine

This is reported by ERR.

Among the equipment handed over in response to Kyiv's international request are three mini-excavators with trailers, four remote demining machines and one chemical substance detector. The assistance was financed by Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its amount is EUR 337,216.

Estonian experts who visited Ukraine have already taught Ukrainian sappers to use such equipment.

Estonian Minister of Internal Affairs Lauri Läänemets, who visited Ukraine in mid-December 2022, noted that assistance in demining Ukrainian de-occupied territories is necessary both to avoid human casualties and to restart the Ukrainian economy. He added that demining Ukraine may take years, or even decades.

“Tens of thousands of square kilometers constitute a dangerous zone, where both agriculture and forestry have stopped. But the matter is not limited to this - important infrastructure facilities, such as power plants, have also been mined,” Läänemets said.

Previously, the Estonian Rescue Department's Demining Center had already sent radiation detection equipment, explosive suits, shrapnel vests, helmets, first aid kits, as well as other equipment necessary for demining to Ukraine.  Estonian colleagues also handed Ukraine tents, sleeping bags, street beds, tent heating systems, diesel generators, etc. as humanitarian aid.

Estonia has already provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid worth EUR 23.1 million. EUR 4.1 million have been allocated to support the public sector.

• On December 23, it became known that Estonia will hand over a new military aid package to Ukraine, which will include drones, winter uniforms and personal protective equipment for Ukraine's Armed Forces.