Clear field: how sappers return security to Donbass
With the onset of stable spring weather in Donbass, a new season of humanitarian demining begins. Sappers will have to clear hundreds of hectares of agricultural land and infrastructure construction sites, ensure the safety of future power lines and return previously considered dangerous territories to economic circulation. Izvestia saw how the units were preparing to enter the field, what equipment and drones the specialists were using, and what tasks they were facing this year.
How is the mine clearance of the territory carried out after the fighting
The territory of the DPR and LPR today is among the most dangerous in terms of the density of mines and unexploded ordnance. Long-term positional battles and large-scale mining of the front line have made even the rear areas dangerous.
At the same time, active restoration and construction are already underway here, so mine clearance is unprecedented in scale and complexity. It is carried out not only by units of the Russian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but also by separate humanitarian demining units.
"We have carried out all the necessary mobilization measures, relocation of equipment, scheduled exercises and coordination of the detachment and are starting to carry out humanitarian demining tasks," says Bogdan, the commander of one of these detachments. — There is a plan for almost 1,200 hectares for our detachment, of which 300 hectares are farmland. The rest is in the electric power industry, almost 200 km for new high—voltage lines.
According to him, the work will continue until mid-December, as long as the weather permits.
Our interlocutor recalls that the advance group arrived in the DPR on April 20, 2022, and after conducting reconnaissance in the same spring, it was already carrying out mine clearance tasks. During this time, about 3 thousand hectares have already been cleared, about 4 thousand mines and several thousand explosive objects have been removed and neutralized.
"Standard mine clearance methods are already considered obsolete in our conditions," Bogdan explains. — It is necessary to use an integrated approach in this area. First, an unmanned reconnaissance of dangerous areas and minefields is carried out, then heavy-duty robotics and small-scale mechanization equipment are used, and only after that a manual mine clearance group enters the site.
Before starting work, the units are built and checked for readiness. There are fully equipped mine clearance teams with special vehicles equipped with electronic warfare equipment, medical crews, a heavy tracked ground-based robotic complex (NRTC) and several small vehicles, as well as a hexacopter. The latter is a private development.
Our interlocutor explains that with the help of UAV sensors, depending on the conditions, from 30% to 60% of mines are detected. As it is put into trial operation, the ambitious goal is to reach 80-90% detection of mines and unexploded ordnance and their accurate application to plans and topographic maps by the end of the year. Such unmanned reconnaissance should not only speed up and reduce the cost of sappers' work. In the case of mine clearance, the safety of work is significantly improved when specialists enter the site, already having a fairly accurate understanding of the boundaries and scale of the threat.
—Every device, every sensor that we will have on the UAV, will provide its data to a computer program in which information will be processed using artificial intelligence," the commander of the Emerkom Demining mine clearance unit tells about the plans.
What are the features of continuous mine clearance of the territory?
The main feature of continuous mine clearance is higher requirements for the quality of cleaning the territory compared to work near the line of operations.
This result can only be achieved by combining the work of the NRTC and sappers. No robot can replace a well-trained human yet, but it takes on some of the risk. For the second year, the Belogor heavy robotics complex has been used, as well as a joint development by a mine clearance company. It activates about 80% of mines, depending on the type of ammunition and terrain features.
Alexander, the head of the humanitarian demining unit, presents another type of equipment used. Small green NRTKS turn out not to be robo-cleaners for hard-to-reach places, but almost peaceful lawn mowers.
— Previously, manual mowing of the grass on the site using a tool or a trimmer was a difficult and dangerous work option. The company's policy is aimed at reducing risk, so we use small—scale mechanization tools such as NRTC," says Alexander. — In fact, this is a mulcher, a forest shredder with an engine. The control is carried out remotely at a distance of up to 500 m, within line of sight. The operator, being at a safe distance, mows down vegetation up to 5 cm, after which the sapper can enter the site and more easily detect the danger.
"Lawn mowers" are not designed for neutralization, our interlocutor notes. However, there were cases when they were blown up by antipersonnel mines in places where danger was not expected, thereby actually saving people.
— The life and health of the staff is a priority for us. People are alive and unharmed, and we will restore the equipment," the specialist notes.
The required level of quality of cleaning the territory according to international and Russian standards for continuous mine clearance is at least 99.96%. This indicator makes it possible to safely use the cleared land in agriculture and in the construction of infrastructure.
Earlier, Izvestia reported how sappers were clearing the ground to install cell towers. Their tasks included clearing unexploded ordnance in 16 sections along the highway of the territory for wiring power lines to cell towers: mobile communications in the new regions should be along all highways. There were unexploded antipersonnel mines in one of the points on these fields — the former positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are located nearby.
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