KHARKIV OBLAST, UKRAINE, Apr 05 — With the beginning of spring, demining resumed in the Kharkiv Oblast. In March, deminers began to engage cynologists of the Main Department of the National Police of Ukraine in the Kharkiv Oblast, reported the press service of the Kharkiv Regional Police.

Three cynologists with service dogs have already acquired the skills to search for explosive devices and have been trained to work on the ground.

“First, explosives experts with metal detectors and probes search the area, then dogs search the same area to detect explosive objects that do not contain metal,” the police said.

A mine found by sappers in the Kharkiv Oblast/ Photo: Kharkiv Regional Police

According to the press service, deminers usually discover two types of explosive devices: TM-62 (a Soviet anti-tank blast mine) and PMN-4 (a Soviet blast anti-personnel mine.)

“Kharkiv region was the first to introduce such a combined method of demining, which is already yielding results. In the future, law enforcement officers plan to share their experience with cynologists from other regions,” the police noted.

As announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, explosives killed 289 people, including 15 children, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. He said some people exploded on mines because they tried to disassemble them or took the explosives home.

UPD from Apr 5, 9:32 p.m.: Headline wording optimized.

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