OSCE supports Ukraine’s efforts to clear seashores from legacy of past wars

Diving suits, hydroacousticdevices and underwater communication sets are among the equipment handed over on 21 March 2014 by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine to the national State Emergency Service in Kyiv to use for clearing the country’s coastal areas from explosive remnants of war and unsafe ammunition,as well as in other underwater rescue and humanitarian operations.

Each year, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine’s professionals detect and dispose of 3,000-5,000 explosive ordnance items, including aerial and mortar bombs, artillery shells, naval mines and others, dumped or washed ashore within the country’s Black and Azov sea coasts. These explosive contaminants are legacies of the fierce battles of the World War II,which took place in the southern Ukrainian regions, as well as of the Cold War-era military exercises. They threaten safety ofpeople, harm the marine environment, and can hamper socio-economic development of the coastal areas, specifically tourism and port infrastructures.

“The equipment donated today will help increase the effectiveness of operations to recover and render safe underwater explosives and ammunition,as well as improve other marine rescue services delivered by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine,“Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine said. “With this equipment the coastal clearance activities will be safer.”

Anatolii Boiko, First Deputy Head of the State Emergency Service said:“The upgrade of equipment for underwater demining is instrumental for our work, as it will help us save lives and health of people, This is especially true for those who live at the shores of Black and Azov seas.”

The equipment was provided as part of the project “Increasing Technical Capacity of Ukrainian Government for Underwater Clean-Up of Black and Azov Sea Coastal Water Areas from Explosive Remnants of War (ERW)” implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and funded by the government of Norway.