This footage shows Ukrainian emergency workers clearing their land and waterways of Russian ordnance, unearthing unexploded bombs and finding them at the bottom of their rivers and lakes.
Workers from the State Emergency Services (SES) of Ukraine can be seen unearthing the unexploded Russian ordnance in the Sumy region of north-eastern Ukraine. They asked Ukrainian parents to teach their children to be safe, as the country will no doubt take years to clear of all the unexploded weaponry.
The state capital of Sumy Oblast, also called Sumy, is located on the banks of the Psel River, and SES workers can also be seen diving into the region’s bodies of water with metal detectors and locating ordnance lying at the bottom.
The footage was obtained from the SES of Ukraine and from the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, which both released the following statement on Sunday, 31st July: “On land and in water: pyrotechnicians of the State Emergency Service are actively freeing Sumy Oblast from the explosive consequences of Russian aggression.
“Since the beginning of the work, the pyrotechnic units of the State Emergency Service have already destroyed more than 6,000 explosive objects in the territory of the region.
“Ammunition is found both on land and in the water areas of reservoirs.
“In addition to explosive items left after the open invasion of Russian troops, the enemy continues to litter our Sumy Oblast with ammunition with daily insidious shelling of border communities.”
The SES of Ukraine also said: “Be careful and teach children safe behaviour when detecting explosive and other suspicious items!”
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 160th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 2nd August, Russia had lost about 41,170 personnel, 1,768 tanks, 4,014 armoured combat vehicles, 936 artillery units, 259 multiple launch rocket systems, 117 air defence systems, 223 warplanes, 191 helicopters, 739 drones, 174 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,914 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 82 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower, but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has warned that nuclear annihilation is only one miscalculation away at the opening of a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference in New York. He said that the world is facing “nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War”.
He added that the war in Ukraine was a significant factor and said: “Humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a letter addressed to the attendees of the NPT conference in New York on Monday that there could be “no winners” in the event of a nuclear war and that it should “never be unleashed”.
But in February, Putin warned outsiders that any attempt to interfere with his invasion of Ukraine would “lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history”. He then put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert.
US Secretary Of State Antony Blinken said Washington was “deeply concerned” that Russia is using a captured Ukrainian nuclear power plant – the largest in the country – as a military base and firing on Ukrainian forces from around it. He labelled Moscow’s actions “the height of irresponsibility”. The US has accused Russia of using the nuclear power plant as a “nuclear shield”.
The US is sending over USD 500 million in additional weaponry to Ukraine, including ammunition for rocket launchers and artillery. The Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov, 56, said on Monday that Ukraine had received four additional HIMARS – High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems – from the US.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that his country is donating a mobile DNA laboratory to the Ukrainian authorities to help ensure that Russia’s war crimes do not go unpunished.
