For the first time in Ukraine, a pilot humanitarian demining project was carried out in an inland waterbody, with the quality of the completed work successfully verified through external quality assurance
The project was conducted in a section of an artificial water channel of the Zdvyzh River in Kyiv Oblast (Bucha District, Borodianka Community, Nova Hreblia village).
A team of seven UDS specialists was deployed, including a Dive Supervisor, a Diving Operations Supervisor, four EOD diver-deminers, and a paramedic. An underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was also used to accelerate the survey process.
A technical survey was conducted using the approved method for clearance of a former combat area, including the clearance of the riverbank and demining of part of the Zdvyzh River in accordance with approved Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the DSTU 8820 series of Ukrainian national mine action standards. The underwater clearance method employed was diver search using the "one diver – one lane" technique.
The external quality assurance of the riverbank and part of the riverbed was conducted by specialists from the Mine Action Centre. For the Centre, this was also the first external QA assessment of demining work in an inland waterbody performed by a private mine action operator. The entire process was carried out under the supervision of the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine.
The assessment confirmed that UDS met a high standard as a mine action operator, while the Mine Action Centre successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of its accredited quality assurance procedures.
🇺🇦 Ukraine's recovery begins with demining.