Demining operations underway at the “Pobratyn Agro” site

The site of LLC “FG Pobratyn Agro” is located within the Vilkhivka Territorial Community of Kharkiv District, Kharkiv Region. The works are carried out at the request of the Center for Humanitarian Demining, and we plan to complete them by the end of this year.

A team of 8 UDS demining specialists is involved in the operation. The site manager is Vitalii Kuprish. A remotely operated humanitarian demining machine Bozena 5+ is also deployed on the site.

By hazard classification, the area is defined as an SHA (Suspected Hazardous Area) and is considered a former battlefield.

💬 “Formally, this is agricultural land, but in reality the field has been abandoned — weeds reach up to 80 cm in some places, and it has not been cultivated since 2022. Local residents say that Sorokivka and Vilkhivka were under very heavy shelling in March–May 2022. They recall hearing explosions even while burning vegetation, which was also confirmed by the State Emergency Service. There are also reports that remnants of Uragan MLRS munitions may be present on the site. In addition, in 2023 an agricultural vehicle was reportedly detonated by an anti-vehicle mine nearby.

A specific challenge of this area is the presence of trees and dense vegetation: we are trimming branches and clearing access routes so that our teams can safely work with a large-loop metal detector. We are proceeding systematically and carefully, and plan to complete the works by the end of this year,” said Vitalii Kuprish, Site Manager.