(MENAFN- UkrinForm) The European Union will hand over nine sapper dogs, as well as search drones, to the armed forces of Ukraine.
That's according to Eva Modzelewska, the representative of the European Commission branch in Poland, who gave an exclusive comment to an Ukrinform correspondent.
"On November 9, the Carpathian Detachment of the Polish Border Service in Nowy Sacz (south of the country) will host a ceremony of handing over the second group of so-called sapper dogs to the Ukrainian military," Modzelewska said.
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According to the official, the German, Belgian, and Dutch shepherds were trained within the framework of the project run by the EC General Directorate for Migration and Internal Affairs and the Service for EU Foreign Policy Instruments.
She noted that the "exceptional" nature of the project as the European Commission is implementing for the first time a project of training dogs to detect explosives.
"This time, the dogs will additionally have special devices attached to their vests. They will help detect radioactive elements," said the EC representative.
She explained that this was done because such materials had been stolen by criminal groups from hospitals in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Nine sniffer dogs were trained by retired police K9 experts from EU member states in Finland, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
The training of the dogs lasted for several months, and two weeks before their transfer to Ukraine, they arrived in Poland along with their instructors. Therefore, the transfer of sapper dogs to new Ukrainian instructors is taking place in Poland.
Modzelewska also said that the sniffer dogs transferred to Ukraine by the European Commission will be provided with special shoes, glasses, vests, as well as food for an adaptation period of up to a month.
Additionally, as part of the project, the Ukrainian Army will also receive several special drones that will help detect mines and other explosive devices. In particular, the drone will mark on the electronic map the locations where metal objects have been detected. This will speed up the process of detecting explosives and help in the work of both canine and human sappers.
The estimated budget of the project, which will last until the end of 2024, is EUR 3 million. In total, the European Commission will provide Ukraine with 50 specially trained sniffer dogs. The first group of nine sapper dogs was handed over to Ukraine in March.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, after the completion of the training course and the passing of the relevant exams, the dogs and special equipment will be handed over to the representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on November 9.
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