Ukraine tests autonomous domestic-made mine-clearing drone

This was announced by Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov. 

"ST1 is an autonomous drone for mine detection. It is equipped with an inductor coil and sensors that allow it to fly around obstacles at low altitudes. There is also a powerful microcomputer on board that processes data and transmits it to the sappers in real-time," the statement said. 

According to Fedorov, the ST1 can work 4 times faster than a human, so it will help to make the process of demining Ukrainian territories faster. Since the drone can operate autonomously, sappers from the State Emergency Service, the Armed Forces and the National Police will be able to control it and search for mines from a safe place. 

The team has now produced a prototype of the demining drone: it is being widely tested in the field to improve and scale up production. 

Land mines in Ukraine

In March, UNDP said that the area of mined territory in Ukraine is 4.5 time larger than the size of Switzerland.

In the summer, the Ministry of Economy said that it hoped to clear 80% of the land in 10 years and return it to use. In August, Ukraine's first domestically produced machine for preparing soil for demining received a certificate of conformity. This development makes it possible to effectively defuse anti-personnel and detect anti-tank mines.

On September 20, the Ministry of Economy reported that since the beginning of the year, more than 200,000 hectares of agricultural land designated for priority demining have been surveyed. 120,000 hectares are already used by farmers.

The Swiss government will provide Ukraine with more than €100 million for humanitarian demining over the next 4 years.

At the International Donor Conference in Zagreb, representatives of Croatia, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, and Sweden announced the allocation of €143 million to help demine Ukrainian territories.

People are advised not to visit fields, forest belts and other open areas that have not been inspected by sappers. This is especially the case in the liberated territories.