Far away from their homeland, some of the Ukrainian women sheltered in Kosovo have decided to spend their time learning how to dismantle mines or explosives that will be left behind by Russian forces after they leave Ukraine.
A process that will most likely last for decades after the end of the invasion and they safely make their way home.
After the war in 1999 between Serb and Albanian forces that left 13,000 people dead, more than 4,500 minefields require deactivation across the territory of Kosovo.
Under the auspices of a dismantling charity organization, six Ukrainian women in Peja are being trained to detect and dispose of explosives.
“We’ve gone through a quite similar experience, especially when it comes to contamination with unexploded ammo, including mines, ammunition, aerial bombs, and targeted weapons. So, if we are dealing with unexploded ammunition, we do have firsthand experience here in Kosovo”, says Artur Tigani, a mine dismantling instructor.
The training site is filled with various inactivated explosives.
Dressed with adequate gear, trainees learn how to use detectors, identify mines, and deactivation techniques.
One of them is Anastasia, who was an English teacher before the war.
“This training is now necessary as we suffer the terrible repercussions of the war. So, the land is indispensable and the land should get cleaned up. There are people who want to live and work there, we don’t have enough time. We need to work on that”, Anastasia says.
She knows that this is a difficult task as her entire country is in danger, but Anastasia says she knows the risks and does not fear anything.
In May, they will return to Ukraine where they will put to practice all the knowledge acquired in the training and help with whatever they can to take their country back.
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