US Disburses Rp. 1.3 Trillion To Help Ukraine Clear Landmines, Assistant To President Zelensky: Its Land Area Reaches 160 Thousand Square Kilometers

Illustration of a Russian weapon that failed to explode in Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - The United States Department of State has approved $89 million in aid to help Ukraine equip and train 100 teams to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance for a year, an official said Tuesday.

The funding represents the largest U.S. demining program in Ukraine, with the official comparing Ukraine's challenges to efforts to disarm unexploded ordnance in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos after the 1960s and 70s American wars in Southeast Asia.

"If you look at some of the conflicts in the not-so-distant past, the Vietnam War for example, we are still cleaning up arms in Southeast Asia 50 years after that war ended. It's probably the equivalent of that," the official said.

The program will be run through contractors and non-governmental organizations, the official said. He said the money, which came in part from Ukraine-related budget requests, would fund not only training, but also special mine detection and earthmoving equipment if needed.

Separately, a Ukrainian official said the aid was aimed at one of the country's most important tasks.

"According to our estimates, 160,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian land requires mine clearance, which is roughly the size of Virginia, Maryland and Connecticut combined," explained Andriy Yermak, a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"This assistance will accelerate Ukraine's recovery," Zelenskiy's chief of staff wrote in a Telegram post.

It is known that the United States is the main financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction, according to a State Department report, and has provided more than 4.2 billion US dollars in aid to more than 100 countries from 1993 to 2021. In addition, the United States is also the largest arms exporter in the world. world.