Operation INTERFLEX ~ UK troops have been teaching Ukrainian soldiers how to disable landmines, munitions and other explosive devices.
~
UK troops have been teaching Ukrainian soldiers how to disable landmines, munitions and other explosive devices. It’s part of Operation INTERFLEX, a UK-led initiative involving 12 other NATO Allies and partners.
The HALO Trust, a non-governmental organisation that works to clear landmines left behind by conflicts, estimates that up to two million landmines may have been laid in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, claiming the lives of many Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and civilians.
The explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training is part of Operation INTERFLEX, a UK-led operation to train Ukrainian Armed Forces since July 2022. Other NATO Allies and partner countries providing trainers for Operation INTERFLEX include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania and Sweden. Personnel from Kosovo security organisations also participate in Operation INTERFLEX.
This NATO Multimedia B-roll footage, filmed 10 November 2024 and released 19 November, includes shots of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel being briefed by instructors before taking part in a practical exercise plus soundbites from a British Army trainer and Ukrainian trainees.
Shot list:-
- 00:00 ~ Soldier kneeling in foreground, soldiers listening to trainer’s instructions in background
- 00:04 ~ British Army’s Royal Regiment of Scotland patch on a soldier’s arm in foreground, soldiers listening to trainer’s instructions in background
- 00:09 ~ Soldier’s feet behind white marker protruding from ground
- 00:13 ~ Ukrainian army patch on a soldier’s arm in foreground, soldiers listening to trainer’s instructions in background
- 00:17 ~ Soldier listening to instruction, trainer giving instruction
- 00:25 ~ Soldier carrying a box of explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training tools
- 00:34 ~ Female Ukrainian soldiers looking at camera listening to instruction
- 00:59 ~ Male Ukrainian soldiers looking at camera listening to instruction
- 01:16 ~ Trainer delivering instructions
- 01:34 ~ Soldiers give round of applause
- 01:38 ~ Soldier kneeling using tool to inspect the ground while British Army trainer comments and observes
- 01:51 ~ Soldiers kneeling/lying down using tool to inspect the ground
- 02:13 ~ Soldiers kneeling using tool to inspect the ground, placing markers in inspected areas
- 02:30 ~ Swedish flag flying from flagpole, row of barracks in the background
- 02:34 ~ Ukrainian and Danish flags flying from flagpole, row of barracks in the background
- 02:40 ~ Soundbite – British Army Trainer
- 02:40 ~ Soundbite – British Army Trainer
- 03:22 ~ Soundbite – British Army Trainer
- 03:32 ~ Soundbite (Ukrainian) – Ukrainian Armed Forces Trainee: “So what I did before Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine. I had my own business. I had an interesting life, full of work, full of travelling. But it happened so that I had to join the army to protect our country.”
- 03:51 ~ Soundbite (Ukrainian) – Ukrainian Armed Forces Trainee: “If we have encountered mines? Yes, we constantly encounter mines because we were on the territory that we had liberated after the departure of Russian soldiers. They have left lots of mines behind. It is a huge problem. At the same time, Russians continue to lay mines all over. Because of that, civilians suffer every day. The civilian population is less protected from this than us because we have specialised people among us who can work with mines.”
- 04:30 ~ Soundbite (Ukrainian) – Ukrainian Armed Forces Trainee: “Did I have experience with mines? Yes, I’ve encountered mines. Starting from 2014, I saw how our farmers were injured and killed by unexploded mines. Farming machines, which were coming to the non-cleared fields to collect our harvest, got blown up. And then, in 2022, out in front of us, there was a lot of mining. Our company commander was killed because of a mine. Mines are a huge threat for the military and civilian population as well for kids. Those who work in the fields, it’s a huge threat for them.”
- 05:13 ~ Soundbite (Ukrainian) – Ukrainian Armed Forces Trainee: “What I think about the training we acquire here? The training that we acquire here is very important and essential. Here we learn from the experience of our partners and we exchange experience with our partners. I think it will help us a lot in the future. It is needed for us, in the first place, and I think for our partners because the fight against the Russian aggressor is very long and difficult for us and I don’t think it is going to end any time soon.”
- 05:53 ~ Soundbite (Ukrainian) – Ukrainian Armed Forces Trainee: “Mines are unfair. When you’re a warrior, you need to fight against a warrior face-to-face. Warriors fight against warriors. But when you set up a mine in a sneaky and unfair way, it is a crime because the civilian population suffers from it, kids suffer from it. Therefore I would ask you to consider it to be a crime always and everywhere.”
- 06:21 ~ Soundbite (Ukrainian) – Ukrainian Armed Forces Trainee: “The message I would like to convey is that Russia is the most severe enemy of the 21st century that doesn’t follow any humanitarian laws. They use weapons that are prohibited by the Geneva Convention. They don’t have rules of war. Therefore, help Ukraine and we will be very grateful to you because we are standing on the border between Europe, America and Russia.”
~
