Demining Ukraine: A Pre-requisite for Recovery: Michael Tirre Remarks before the U.S. Helsinki Commission
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(U.S. Department of State) — "Thank you for the introduction, Demitra, and for the invitation to participate in this briefing. I appreciate how you described the existing landmine contamination in eastern Ukraine resulting from Russia’s initial invasion in 2014.
This is key to understanding today’s context because, by the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February, the Government of Ukraine already had existing demining expertise, including a mine action law, demining authorities, national mine action standards, and field experience.
Since 2016, the United States has been supporting the Government of Ukraine’s response by advising these authorities, training and equipping government demining teams, and also funding international NGOs to deploy along the line of contact in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts."