Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, urged the international community in Lausanne (Switzerland) on October 17 to increase its support for demining.
The conference, taking place between October 17-18, is aimed at receiving financial backing for demining project from officials from over 50 countries.
According to a World Bank report, the estimated cost of demining is $34.6billion. Clearing these areas is essential for restoring agricultural productivity and allowing millions of Ukrainians who have been displaced to return home.
Shmyhal stated that the scale of the challenge was truly massive and emphasized the need to train 10,000 deminers as well as develop machines that could speed up the process.
The attendees are shown mock-up scenarios to illustrate the dangers posed by mines. New demining technologies such as AI powered drones and remotely controlled machines are also being showcased.
Ukraine is also the most mined nation in the world. Over the past two decades, the Defense Ministry of Ukraine has cleared 30,000 square kilometers worth of mines – an area equivalent to that of Belgium or Moldova.
According to U.N. observers, 399 civilians were killed and 915 injured by mines after the full-scale Russian invasion began.
Since 2022, 174,000 square kilometers (approximately 144,000 square kilometres) of Ukrainian land has been contaminated by explosives. This means that 144,000 square kilometer are still potentially dangerous.
Denys Shmyhal, the Ukrainian Prime Minister, addressed the annual Ukraine Mine Action Conference held in Switzerland on October 17, and urged the international community for increased support to demining efforts.
According to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway has increased its overall support for Ukraine’s Energy Sector to 3 billion Kroner (around 274.2 million dollars) as part of a broader aid program.
Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, wrote that “what (Zelensky), outlined yesterday in Ukraine’s parliament is more than frightening,” and urged EU leaders to begin talks with Moscow as soon as possible.
In an interview with The Washington Post on October 17, Trump blamed the U.S., Ukraine and other leaders for the war. He did not mention Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We refute the insinuations made by unnamed sources, in the Bild magazine, regarding Ukraine’s alleged plan to develop weapons or mass destruction.”
The change could delay the Ukrainian squadron’s readiness for the battlefield by several months.
“We never talked about…that we were preparing to create nukes or something like that,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainska Pravda, citing reliable sources, reported that the person in question was Iryna Alakhverdiieva, from the Servant of the People Party of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department said that the two Chinese companies, Limbach and Redlepus, have been working together with IEMZ Kupol – a subsidiary of Almaz-Antey – a Kremlin-owned arms company – to create drones.
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, wrote on X that Greece is ready to continue to meet Ukraine’s most urgent defence needs.
“Either Ukraine has nuclear weapons that will protect it, or they must be a part of an alliance.” “We do not know any other alliance that is as effective as NATO,” Volodymyr Zelensky told Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The legislation approved by the parliament in December was pushed through under pressure from Western partners as well as Ukrainian business associations. The reform is a necessary step towards Kyiv’s EU accession.
According to military intelligence, North Korean officials are already in the occupied territory of Ukraine.
“There will not be a war like the one of 1953.” I’m talking about the Korean War. It ended in summer of 2023 in Ukraine when two professional armies with more than a half million personnel each faced off on the battlefield,” said Valerii Zaluzhnyi. He is the current ambassador to the U.K. and former commander-in chief of Ukraine.
In response to a Kyiv Independent journalist, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.K. Valerii Zaluzhyni stated that Ukraine needed to change its approach to mobilisation because it still carries Soviet influences. However, much more time was required for a reform to be implemented, he said.
“We end up in a protracted state of war.” In my opinion, a protracted war is almost impossible to end, said Valerii Zaluzhnyi. He was Ukraine’s former commander in chief and newly appointed ambassador to the U.K.
On October 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the victory plan included placing conventional missile capability in Ukraine, which would either force Russia into negotiations or destroy their military targets.
Dmytro Plenchuk, a Ukrainian Navy spokesperson, said that just because Russia deploys cruise missile carriers on the sea does not mean the ships will be used in an attack.
On October 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Brussels to present his five point victory plan to Charles Michel, the president of the European Council.
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