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Military operation in Ukraine

Russian army engineers clearing Mariupol port of mines

The work is being carried out by specialists of the International Mine Action Center

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Russian combat engineer units are carrying out work on the coast of the Sea of Azov near the port of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine to clear the territory of mines, according to a video uploaded by Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday.

The video shows an Uran-6 robotic vehicle combing the beach, munitions exploding near the vehicle and a group of field engineers moving ahead after the mine-clearing robot.

"Alongside the territory of the Azovstal steel plant, Russian combat engineer units have launched operations to remove explosives from the coastline of the Sea of Azov adjacent to the Mariupol maritime port. The work is being carried out by specialists of the International Mine Action Center," the ministry said in a comment.

The Russian field engineers are defusing the ordnance unexploded during the recent fighting. The army engineers are exploding all the discovered shells and mines by pressure charges. The Russian forces are widely using Uran-6 self-propelled tracked remote-controlled minesweepers designated to clear swaths of land and also mountainous and forested terrain.

The vehicle is remotely controlled by an operator with the help of a control panel from a distance of up to 1 km. Despite its small dimensions and a weight of 6-7 tonnes, the robotic mine-clearance vehicle can withstand a blast equivalent to 60 kg of TNT. The vehicle’s equipment makes it possible to find dangerous items and identify their type.

By now, the field engineers have combed over 50 km of the coastline of the Sea of Azov and defused more than 300 various munitions, a deputy commander of the Russian Defense Ministry’s International Mine Action Center said. Overall, the Center’s personnel have defused more than 6,000 explosives on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic since the beginning of their work, he added.

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Military operation in Ukraine

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