00:00 A NATO mission training soldiers in bomb disposal, used in conflicts throughout the world, is
00:08 now a crucial part of the multinational exercises supporting the Ukrainian military.
00:14 Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD, involves the location, identification, render safe
00:18 and disposal of dangerous unexploded conventional, chemical and biological as well as improvised
00:24 explosives often hidden in innocuous places designed to lay a trap for soldiers and bomb
00:30 disposal teams.
00:32 For over 20 years, Northern Challenge has been an annual Icelandic Coast Guard led exercise.
00:38 This year involved 16 nations, over 400 participants, including the U.S. Marine Corps.
00:44 Here we're trying to give everyone, all the EOD teams, the experience of real life scenarios
00:51 that are occurring worldwide in a training environment so that they can learn what those
00:57 items are, how to defeat them safely and ensure the safety of their fellow troops.
01:03 A lot of times in Iraq or Afghanistan it would be very basic, homemade type things, where
01:09 today we're seeing more conventional munitions employed in an improvised manner.
01:15 The threat stays the same and the way that we treat a lot of those stays the same.
01:21 The nature of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine means a huge number of troops are
01:25 not professional infantry men and women, but regular Ukrainian civilians forced to fight
01:30 for the future of their country.
01:35 But the senior military personnel in charge of the program say the lack of front line
01:39 experience is compensated by the motivation of recruits to fight for their lives.
01:47 I've trained quite a lot of Ukrainians in the last 12 to 18 months and these people
01:52 are fighting for their lives.
01:54 It doesn't matter what they did before.
01:57 They think way differently than we do.
01:59 We're preparing for something.
02:01 They're fighting for their lives.
02:02 Their willingness and desire to learn as quick as they can so that they can go back home
02:07 and either save lives, protect lives or ultimately push Russia back out of their country.
02:13 There's no greater impetus than that.
02:15 Meanwhile NATO defence ministers are meeting in Brussels this week, attended for the first
02:19 time by newly appointed defence minister of Ukraine Rustem Umarov.
02:25 The consistent supply of weapons remains a key concern for Ukraine, particularly after
02:29 the commitment to continue support was removed from a bill in US Congress aimed at avoiding
02:34 a government shutdown.
02:35 Seana Murray, Euronews, Keflavik, Iceland.
02:38 [WHOOSH]
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