United to win: Japan joins multinational effort to clear landmines in Ukraine

Japan plans to join the multinational project on demining Ukraine within the "Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine."

Kyodo News reports this with reference to sources in the Japanese government.

It is noted that Japan will join the Lithuanian-led demining support structure as part of the "Contact Group" and will provide Ukraine with demining equipment and train personnel to use it. The Japanese military is also likely to join the structure as part of the "Contact Group" in the field of information and technology to help strengthen Ukraine's cyber security in the face of constant cyber-attacks by the Russian Federation. Interlocutors of the publication also informed that Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara will soon officially announce these intentions.

The move aims to expand Tokyo's efforts to provide non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including for reconstruction, as Japan's strict rules on arms and ammunition exports under its war-renouncing Constitution prevent the country from offering direct military aid.

Japan has already supplied Ukraine with mine detection equipment and conducted several training programs for demining personnel, as well as agreed to cooperate with Cambodia in the field of decontamination of Russian mines and bombs in Ukraine. Notably, Cambodia has extensive experience in demining, as in previous years, with the support of international partners; it was able to destroy a large number of mines planted during the past civil war.

For reference:

As noted by the Ministry of Economy, several aid projects initiated or financed by Japan have been implemented or are in the process of being executed for Ukraine.

So, earlier, the State Emergency Service was transferred:

• 12 operational pyrotechnic machines, purchased by UNICEF with the support of the Government of Japan,
• Thirty trucks (as part of the implementation of the "Capacity Development Project in Humanitarian Demining and Disposal of Explosive Objects").

During 2022-2023, the UNDP Representative Office in Ukraine, with the support of the Government of Japan, implemented a project of international technical assistance in the field of humanitarian demining, within the framework of which the State Emergency Service received cars for pyrotechnic groups, equipment for sappers, etc.

The implementation of the "Improvement of equipment for humanitarian demining" projects, designed until 2025, is currently underway. The projects are implemented within the framework of the Grant Agreement for the Emergency Recovery Program between the Government of Ukraine and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

It should be noted that Japan plans to allocate 160 million euros to support Ukraine's economic recovery projects.