00:00After nearly four years of war, Ukraine is the most heavily mine-contaminated country
00:28in the world, with millions of landmines and unexploded weapons scattered over nearly
00:33a quarter of the land. This invisible danger is wrecking lives. More than 900 civilians
00:40have been killed or injured.
00:52In Tokyo, the Japanese government has just hosted the annual Ukraine Mine Action Conference,
00:58globally, Japan is one of the major supporters of Ukraine, having provided $12 billion in
01:05financial aid, equipment and training since 2022.
01:11This conference is an opportunity to coordinate international support, technical, financial
01:16and humanitarian, to accelerate demining in Ukraine. The emphasis is not only on making
01:23the country safer right now, but as an economic gateway to the future.
01:30The Japanese foreign minister said landmines cast a dark shadow over Ukraine's future,
01:36stressed the importance of mine action through international public-private partnerships.
01:41Mr. Motegi outlined a new package, the Ukraine Mine Action Support Initiative, which
01:46aims to boost human resources and technology, integrating mine action in the future.
01:47The Ukraine Mine Action Support Initiative, which aims to boost human resources and technology,
01:53integrating mine action into Ukraine's broader recovery.
02:00He also announced a new partnership with Colombia, another country with a history of landmine contamination,
02:01and a financial contribution to the NATO fund that supports mine action in Ukraine.
02:05Ukraine's deputy minister of economy,
02:06Mr. Motegi's deputy minister of economy,
02:08Mr. Motegi, in the U.S.
02:09the United States, and the United States, and the United States, and the United States,
02:10the United States, and the United States, and the United States.
02:11Mr. Motegi outlined a new package, the Ukraine Mine Action Support Initiative,
02:12which aims to boost human resources and technology, integrating mine action into Ukraine's broader recovery.
02:18He also announced a new partnership with Colombia, another country with a history of landmine contamination,
02:24and a financial contribution to the NATO fund that supports mine action in Ukraine.
02:30Ukraine's deputy minister of economy, environment, and agriculture says the ongoing conflict makes clearing landmines even more dangerous.
02:42It's really complicated our work, but we're doing it because if we will wait when war will stop,
02:51we will lose totally our economy because our economy is in a big part, it's agriculture production.
03:00Japan and Ukraine have developed a new approach, the so-called Nexus,
03:05which is all about getting rid of the landmines, but also what comes next.
03:10The Nexus idea is not doing just clearance, it's thinking about the future and what will happen in the area in the future after clearance,
03:19what will be rebuilt and in what time period, how we work with local authorities, how we work with local citizens, with local business.
03:28Japanese engineering and manufacturing company Niken Corporation has given 12 landmine clearance machines to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict.
03:39The usual
03:42And we're going to use the same.
03:44We're going to use a blue type, which is a blue type, which is a blue type.
03:46But this machine is a Shoebel type, which is used to move the arms to the enemy.
03:53The machine is being put through its paces in a real-life simulation.
03:58Thousands of miles away from the Tokyo Conference, the Niken machine is being put through its paces in a real-life simulation.
04:10Here in Cambodia, officers from Ukraine's emergency services are learning how to use the equipment on the ground
04:17before heading home where they'll train up their colleagues in turn.
04:21Co-ordinated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, this training camp pulls together expertise from the Cambodia Mine Action Centre and Niken
04:33to pass on knowledge and skills to trainees from the Ukrainian State Emergency Service.
04:39This is one of several training sessions JICA has held in Cambodia, a country that knows all too well the deadly toll that landmines exact.
04:49The mines do not use quite a lot of the landmines.
04:56The landmines are damaged, farmers cannot be cleaned up.
05:00There are also areas where people want to return to live, but they are dangerous.
05:07They may be cleaned up with dangerous objects, their houses, their houses, their houses, their houses,
05:13or new houses, their homes, their houses,칠칠 coms, and other balanceous Więcmin.
05:19There are also very dangerous lines of transport, the infrastructure objects on the occupied areas of the occupied areas.
05:30Back in Tokyo at the Ukraine Mine Action Conference, Kamiishi Hiroto of JICA says the training program is two-pronged.
05:37is two-pronged.
05:39Just simply providing equipment doesn't work well,
05:42because when introducing new technology or new equipment,
05:47that technology and equipment should be properly used,
05:50meaning that capacity and human resources
05:52is the key.
05:54The idea is that the Ukrainian officers in Cambodia
05:57will now train up their colleagues back in the field.
06:01We really hope that those kind of trainers
06:03will be the focal or core of the human resource development
06:08in Ukraine.
06:12While efforts in Cambodia aim to prevent future casualties
06:15from mines, the toll in Ukraine is already immense.
06:19With tens of thousands of people there
06:21in need of prosthetic limbs, one Japanese company
06:25is exploring how its technology could help.
06:27Obara Kogyo is a 4th generation Tokyo-based prosthetic company
06:34with more than 70 years of experience.
06:37Obara Kogyo is a fourth generation Tokyo-based prosthetics company
06:40with more than 70 years of experience.
06:42It's a method of making a knife with a knife in Japanese.
06:47On the other hand, the technology of 3D printers is also amazing.
06:52It's like a speed of new technology.
06:57I think it's possible to be able to make a single product.
07:01Obara Kogiu has received inquiries from organizations in Ukraine
07:05and is considering how best to respond to the evident need for prosthetics
07:10but in a country where medical facilities are overstretched.
07:35We've seen the brute strength of the demining machine in action in Cambodia
07:39and other technologies are also in development to try and minimize the risks to soldiers on the ground.
07:46Industrial drone company ProDrone is working with Tokyo consultancy Padeco
07:51and two local Ukrainian partners to develop AI-powered drones that can detect mines from the sky.
07:58Someone said to demining in crime takes more than 100 years.
08:04But, well, we didn't calculate, but if this technology can contribute,
08:10then it's going to be much faster and less dangerous.
08:14It is very, very high technology because lower altitude is very difficult to fly,
08:22but our drone can do only 20 centimeters.
08:26Then, if one meter, the detector cannot detect anything.
08:31The drones use software to map the exact location of where the mines are detected.
08:37The flight path is also programmed so the drones fly autonomously.
08:41Nagoya-based ProDrone is currently testing them at its headquarters
08:48and invited a delegation of Ukrainian companies to watch.
08:53The drone is on the ICF.
08:56I'm using the drone drone.
08:57The drone drone has a large distance from the ground.
08:59The drone is a large distance from the ground to the ground,
09:02and it's very close.
09:03The distance from the ground is that it's slowly flying and that it's small.
09:08The width is small.
09:09It's two and two pair of pairs together.
09:14It's a large space that can be used.
09:16Vlad Kozak of the Ukrainian Foundation Post-Up was in Nagoya.
09:46And that's the custom-made solutions for such applications.
09:51The widespread use of landmines has decimated farming.
09:55Before the war, much of this land was used for agriculture.
09:59Ukraine exported enormous quantities of food.
10:02It was known as the breadbasket of Europe.
10:05And its agriculture sector accounted for around 10% of its GDP.
10:10At a side-event during the conference, Ukrainian chef Yevhen Klopatenko was serving up Ukraine's borscht soup,
10:18made from vegetables from fields recently cleared of landmines to raise awareness.
10:23Three years ago, four years ago, you've been farming all of your life.
10:27And then Russian weight and mined all the territories.
10:32And then was the time when we pushed the Russian army back.
10:36And now again, we have these fields, but they are mined.
10:40And the farmers, they can only farm.
10:42And that's their craft.
10:44Every day they can be killed.
10:45They can be killed by the drone or they can be killed by the mine.
10:48So that's the real price of the food.
10:51It was a moment for local people to find out more about Ukraine and landmines,
10:55and of course, taste the traditional dish.
10:58And then the landmines, the landmines and landmines,
11:04and of course, it's a lot more about the landmines.
11:06And the landmines and landmines that have been developed for a long time.
11:08And the landmines and landmines that have been made of landmines,
11:10is a lot more than the landmines that have been given to the landmines.
11:12With new agreements signed and fresh partnerships launched,
11:42Japan's role in Ukraine goes beyond funding.
11:46It's a full-scale effort, saving lives and preparing the ground for recovery and reconstruction.
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