Sappers who lost limbs continue to deport Kharkiv region (VIDEO)
Valeriy Onul and Andriy Ilkiv renounced their disability and, as part of a consolidated detachment of the Explosive Service of the National Police of Ukraine, are cleaning Ukrainian lands from the effects of occupiers' stay.
Deputy Head of the Department of the Explosive Service of the Dnipropetrovsk Region Valery Onul has been working in law enforcement agencies for almost 25 years. The policeman took part in the mining of Irpen, Bucha, Chernihiv region, Liman, Kherson region, Kharkiv region, Svyatogorsk, Kramatorsk.
On November 29, 2022, near Kherson, during the demining of the Novoalexandrovskaya dam, a man was blown up by an explosive device and lost his leg.
“He was treated for about four months. There were no thoughts of leaving the job. I have been in this service all my life, I like it. I can't give up my boys. At first it was difficult to go on the field, but then it was normal,” says Valery.
According to him, it is quite difficult to work in the Kharkiv direction, because the territory is densely mined. In addition, there are a lot of traps under the mines.
Andriy Ilkiv, Head of the Department of Technical, Forensic and Cynological Support of Explosive Measures of the Department of the Explosive Engineering Service of the GUNP in Lviv Oblast (Region), has been working as an explosives technician since 2007.
On September 13, 2022, during the demining of the village of Dementiivka, Kharkiv region, a policeman was blown up by an anti-personnel mine.
“I lost my foot. I immediately began to impose the turnstile. We came to the aid of a colleague. But I left me with another mine. When I was already being pulled out, a colleague stepped in and his leg was also torn off. And I blew up again. Life was saved by a bulletproof vest. Taras had his left leg amputated, but he is also working further,” Andriy recalls.
After 4 months, the man went to work first in Lviv, and then again in the assembled detachment of explosives engineers went to demining:
“The motivation is to bring our territory to a safe state so that we can quickly return to peaceful life.”
Valeriy and Andriy gave up disability, benefits and benefits in order to continue doing what they do best — work as explosives technicians.
Law enforcement officers are currently deporting fields in Chuguevskiy district, which belong to the family of local sole proprietor farmer Gennady Morgun. The man said that he had 11 hectares of land on which, before the war, his family grew vegetables, sunflowers, etc.
“The Russians drove in KamAZs and scattered mines. Mined everything. All fields are currently idle for a year. The losses are very large,” says Gennadiy.
The man first tried to deport the land on his own with the help of a metal detector. Currently, police explosives specialists are engaged in this.
Thus, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, four employees of the explosive units of the National Police died in the line of duty, another 19 were injured.
Despite this, the police do not stop mining work even on weekends. Currently, 31 groups of explosives engineers are working in Kharkiv region, deporting Izyumsky, Kupyansk, Chuguevsky and part of Kharkiv districts.
National Police of Ukraine
