On Thursday, Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Simon Harris confirmed the arrival in Poland of two convoys with vehicles from the Armed Forces’ reserves, which will be transferred to Ukraine as aid.
“Operation Carousel 3, led by the Armed Forces Transport Corps, ensured the safe arrival of 34 vehicles at the International Donor Coordination Center in Rzeszów, Poland, as part of Ireland’s contribution to the European Peace Fund. In addition to… vehicles, the convoy also transported three Reacher robotic manipulators, which will be transferred to the Mine Action Coalition… as part of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG),” according to a statement on the country’s government website.
According to the information, Ireland transferred two Ford Transit vehicles, three Mercedes ambulances, five Scania 8×8 DROPS trucks, eight 15-seat Ford Transit minibuses, and 16 Ford Ranger double cab vehicles.
It is noted that the vehicles meet Ukraine’s needs, and their transfer will be confirmed in Poland by the Armed Forces and Defense Forces of Ukraine.
As reported in March, the Irish government approved an additional aid package for Ukraine worth EUR 100 million, which will be used to purchase non-lethal military equipment.
The Italian Agency for Cooperation Development (AICS) has announced a grant competition for land clearance from mines and other remnants of war in the frontline regions with a total budget of EUR 6 million, with the amount of one project not exceeding EUR 1.8 million.
As reported on the website of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine on Thursday, the projects should be aimed at non-technical and/or technical survey of the territories, and include an element of informing the population about mine threats. Kharkiv region, where 55 out of 56 communities have been affected by the war, has been chosen as a priority for the implementation of projects within the competition.
“This is the first time that one of the partner countries has allocated money directly for the clearance of our land, involving Ukrainian mine action operators in this process. I believe that such cooperation will allow us to quickly return to use and identify contaminated areas and strengthen cooperation not only at the level of institutions, but also between organizations and companies of our countries that strive to make Ukrainian land safer,” said Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
Only non-profit organizations can apply for the competition, but they can also engage commercial mine action operators as partners in project implementation.
Applications will be accepted until May 11 this year. The total planned duration of the projects is up to 15 months.
Austria will allocate EUR5 million to Ukraine for demining of agricultural land and EUR2 million to support the Grain from Ukraine program as Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger visits Kyiv on Friday, Die Presse reports.
“For Meinl-Reisinger, the trip to Kyiv is “the first real trip abroad” in her new position, as the Brussels she visited last week is not really a visit to another country for her,” the newspaper writes.
The European media outlet added that the Austrian foreign minister’s luggage included a check for EUR5 million to help clear agricultural land of mines and EUR2 million to supply Ukrainian grain to Middle Eastern countries in need.
As reported, Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger arrived in Kyiv on Friday. Immediately after her arrival, she and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga laid flowers at the wall of memory of the fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
The program of Meinl-Reisinger’s visit includes a meeting with the Ukrainian leadership, in particular with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.
Austria will allocate EUR5 million to Ukraine for farmland clearance and EUR2 million to support the Grain from Ukraine program amid a visit by Austrian Foreign Ministry chief Beate Meinl-Reisinger to Kiev on Friday, Die Presse reported.
“For Meinl-Reisinger, the trip to Kiev is the ‘first real trip abroad’ in her new position, as Brussels, which she visited last week, is not really a visit to another country for her,” the publication wrote.
The European media outlet added that the Austrian foreign minister’s luggage includes a check for EUR5m to help demining agricultural land and EUR2m to supply Ukrainian grain to Middle Eastern countries that need it.
Ukrainian veterans will be able to undergo training in humanitarian demining in Serbia, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs has announced.
“The training will provide war veterans with knowledge of the intricacies of demining, familiarization with national standards of mine action, etc. During the training, war veterans will be able to acquire the necessary skills and certification, which will open up new career opportunities for them,” the ministry said in a statement following a meeting between Deputy Minister Yulia Kyrylova and Serbian Ambassador to Ukraine Andon Sapundji and representatives of the Serbian Demining Center.
It is noted that at the same time, such an initiative will help strengthen the national demining system, as experienced specialists will be able to work on the security of the liberated territories.
In addition, the Ministry of Veterans and the Mine Action Center of Serbia agreed to further establish cooperation in the training of demining specialists among war veterans.
Ukraine’s largest mobile operator Kyivstar and one of the largest volunteer foundations “Come Back Alive” have accumulated UAH 54.8 million as part of the fundraising for demining of Ukraine’s territories “We Live Here 2.0”.
“Demining of territories remains a critical issue to restore safe life in Ukraine. We plan to close the urgent needs of demining units to the amount of UAH 100 million, providing them with modern Ukrainian equipment,” Taras Chmut, director of the ‘Back Alive’ fund, was quoted as saying in a press release on Tuesday.
Kyivstar clarified that UAH 17.8 million of the mentioned amount was collected at the expense of subscribers who connected the charitable Superpower “Aid to the AFU” or SMS-subscription.
To support the collection, directly the mobile operator transferred 30 million UAH of its own funds.
“We are grateful to everyone who supported the initiative and made a contribution to demining the country, our goal is 100 million UAH. We call on all those who are not indifferent to join the initiative and support the sappers”, – commented CEO of ‘Kyivstar’ Alexander Komarov.
It is noted that the collected funds will be used to provide sappers of the AFU Support Force with Ukrainian-made robotic complexes, transportation and communications.
According to him, the collection includes the transfer of 16 reconnaissance and logistics robotic complexes “Tarakan” (64 vehicles), 8 robotic complexes “Termit” (32 vehicles), 28 vehicles, 4 maintenance workshops, 28 REB vehicles, 100 radios of various types, 1 Vampire drone with thermal imaging cameras for remote demining, as well as 96 drones of various types for sappers’ awareness and related equipment.
It is specified that also the first Ukrainian superpop for dog and cat owners – Bubibo – joined the collection, which within the framework of the project collects UAH 1 million and attracts cats and dogs to support the deminers.
