UDS cleared 20 hectares of land for farmer Yuriy Kotyk with robots and mechanisms

During May, three UDS mechanized demining groups demined and cleared 200 000 thousand square meters of agricultural land owned by farmer Yurii Kotyk from the remnants of the war.

Demining took place in pursuance of the order of the Mine Action Center.

The costs of demining were covered by UDS because currently, the farmer does not have any financial opportunity to pay for the clearance of the remains of Russian farmers.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine expelled the enemy, and after the Armed Forces came we, farmers and agrarians. We got mutilated equipment, destroyed farms, and fields littered with mines. Last year, we had to carry out demining on our own. Over the past year, more than 5000 hectares have been demined. They were blown up and wounded. We lost equipment, but what can we do - we need to sow and return to life and restore the region," says Mykolaiv farmer Yurii Kotyk, - "Thank you to the UDS team for joining the demining of our lands. In May, we made a lot of progress. Of course, with such powerful and fast vehicles, the pace of demining is fantastic, and most importantly, it is safe."

Yuri Kotik is a Nikolaev farmer, and director of several farms that are part of the PAEK group of companies.

At one time, the man visited the war in Afghanistan. He says that the destruction and suffering caused by the Russian occupiers today is hundreds of times greater. The man has been working in the agricultural sector for decades.

When the Mykolaiv region was liberated in November 2022, he was one of the first to enter the fields. Yuri noted that there is a wide variety of shells on the ground ― from officially banned cluster munitions to shells of various multiple-launch rocket systems.

On June 10 last year, Yuri and his son-in-law worked in the field. Their tractor hit an enemy mine and blew up. It happened in the village of Blahodatne. Yuri was injured and then underwent several surgeries. Doctors restored the sensitivity of his hand and restored its mobility. Soon he and his son-in-law returned to work in the fields.

The company's employees have cleared thousands of hectares themselves. Unfortunately, all this time they did not involve official mine action operators, but did everything themselves, which led to emergencies and serious injuries.

On the recommendation of the regional military administration, UDS conducted a free NTS of Yuriy Kotyk's lands in April, and in May it cleared more than 20 hectares of mines.