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.
01:41U.S.
01:43U.S.
01:44U.S.
01:46Mr. Motegi outlined a new package, the Ukraine Mine Action Support Initiative, which aims
02:12to boost human resources and technology, integrating mine action into Ukraine's broader recovery.
02:20He also announced a new partnership with Colombia, another country with a history of
02:24landmine contamination, and a financial contribution to the NATO fund that supports
02:29mine action in Ukraine. Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture says the
02:38ongoing conflict makes clearing landmines even more dangerous.
02:43It's really complicated our work, but we're doing it because if we will wait when war will
02:51stop, we will lose totally our economy because our economy is in a big part, it's agriculture, production.
03:01Japan and Ukraine have developed a new approach, the so-called nexus, which is all about getting
03:07rid of the landmines, but also what comes next.
03:10Nexus idea, it's not doing just clearance, it's a clearance, it's thinking about future
03:16and what will happen in the area in the future after clearance, what will rebuild and in what
03:22time period, how we work with local authorities, how we work with local citizens, with local
03:28business.
03:30Japanese engineering and manufacturing company Niken Corporation has given 12 landmine clearance
03:36machines to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict.
03:39The normalcy machine is in the blue type of protection to see the kind of push up the
03:43blue type of protection.
03:44It's a single-click machine that has to push up the protection of the protection of the
03:46public.
03:47But this technology is in the back of the pressure that operates the arms, which is the
03:48arm to move, which is the protection of the protection of the military.
04:01miles away from the tokyo conference the nikken machine is being put through its paces in a real
04:07life simulation here in cambodia officers from ukraine's emergency services are learning how
04:15to use the equipment on the ground before heading home where they'll train up their colleagues
04:20in turn coordinated by the japan international cooperation agency jika this training camp
04:28pulls together expertise from the cambodia mine action center and nikken to pass on knowledge
04:34and skills to trainees from the ukrainian state emergency service this is one of several training
04:42sessions jayka has held in cambodia a country that knows all too well the deadly toll that landmines
04:49exact mine is not the case that's enough to do so much of the public health care
04:56project
04:58では not to do fummer
04:59people can't抑えた
05:00so there are also inequity territories where people want to come home to live
05:05but there are still危險 there are there can be
05:11dangerous物件 their buildings their houses
05:14their garages their houses
05:15everywhere else to go to the corridor
05:18so there are too many lines of transport
05:22back in tokyo at the ukraine mine action conference kameishi hiroto of jika says the training program
05:37is two-pronged just simply providing equipment doesn't work well because as a when a way
05:44introducing a new technology or new equipment that technology and equipment should be properly used
05:50meaning that capacity development human resources development the key the idea is that the ukrainian
05:55officers in cambodia will now train up their colleagues back in the field we really hope
06:02that those kind of trainers will be the focal or core of the human resource development in ukraine
06:11while efforts in cambodia aim to prevent future casualties from mines the toll in ukraine is
06:17already immense with tens of thousands of people there in need of prosthetic limbs one japanese
06:24company is exploring how its technology could help obara kogyo is a fourth generation tokyo-based
06:34prosthetics company with more than 70 years of experience obara kogyo has received inquiries from
07:03organizations in ukraine and is considering how best to respond to the evident need for prosthetics
07:10but in a country where medical facilities are overstretched we've seen the brute strength of the
07:36demining machine in action in cambodia and other technologies are also in development to try and
07:42minimize the risk to soldiers on the ground industrial drone company prodrone is working with tokyo
07:49consultancy padeco and two local ukrainian partners to develop ai-powered drones that can detect mines from
07:58the sky someone said to demining in crime takes more than 100 years but well we didn't calculate but
08:08if this technology can contribute then it's going to be the much faster and less dangerous it is very very
08:16high technology because lower altitude is very difficult to fly but our drone can do only 20 centimeters
08:26then if one meters detector cannot detect anything the drones use software to map the exact location of
08:36where the mines are detected the flight path is also programmed so the drones fly autonomously
08:45nagoya-based prodrone is currently testing them at its headquarters and invited a delegation of ukrainian
08:51companies to watch
08:56logistics and train taking power to the drone
09:01uh...
09:01uh...
09:02wland kossack of the ukrainian foundation post-up was in nagoya
09:07Vlad Kozak of the Ukrainian Foundation Post-Up was in Nagoya.
09:25This year we had a project with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, where we surveyed
09:315 million square meters of suspected hazardous areas and confirmed hazardous areas.
09:38So we used agricultural drones that were mostly popular in Ukraine.
09:42And right now we went to the next level to try and test custom-made solutions for such applications.
09:52The widespread use of landmines has decimated farming.
09:56Before the war, much of this land was used for agriculture.
09:59Ukraine exported enormous quantities of food.
10:03It was known as the breadbasket of Europe.
10:05And its agriculture sector accounted for around 10% of its GDP.
10:12At a side event during the conference, Ukrainian chef Yevhen Klopatenko was serving up Ukraine's
10:17borscht soup made 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 Russia invaded and mined all the territories.
10:32And then was the time when we pushed the Russian army back.
10:37And 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.
10:56And of course, taste the traditional dish.
10:59And I think you can make it so much longer.
11:04I thought it was a good opportunity in the world that.
11:07It was a big experience.
11:10And you can see I think that.
11:13Like, I thought it's interesting.
11:13I thought it was a good idea.
11:18It's interesting.
11:18When you're going to be with the bird and animal,
11:20the streets were there.
11:21And you can see it on your own.
11:22And you can find it on your own.
11:25Because that's a resource for using the trees to store,
11:27with new agreements signed and fresh partnerships launched Japan's role in Ukraine goes beyond
11:44funding it's a full-scale effort saving lives and preparing the ground for recovery and reconstruction
11:57you
Comments