A group of nearly 100 Polish police officers has returned from an operation – kept secret until now – to demine areas in Ukraine won back from Russian occupation. The team was welcomed home by President Andrzej Duda at the presidential palace, where he awarded them medals for bravery.
Working in the Kyiv region, the Polish group cleared more than 342,000 square metres of land and over 17.5 kilometres of roads. They were forced to seek shelter during Russian air raids 129 times during the mission, with none of the team injured.
The Polish officers safely removed around 2,000 dangerous objects, including mines, grenades and grenade launchers
98 Polish police officers dealt with demining the areas of Ukraine liberated from Russians.
For almost five months of service, none of the police officers were injured. The mission has now successfully returned to Poland.
🇵🇱🤝🇺🇦 https://t.co/eyO4PufzWg pic.twitter.com/ldjtTGFIAF— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) February 23, 2023
“For the past five months, the 98-strong humanitarian police contingent has been demining pyrotechnic charges left by Russian troops in Ukraine,” announced Jacek Siewiera, head of President Duda’s National Security Bureau (BBN). “They have already saved hundreds of lives.”
The mission began after last year’s appeal by Ukraine to members of the ATLAS group, a police task force that brings together the European Union’s special counter-terrorism units. Kyiv called for pyrotechnicians to be sent to Ukraine to demine the country, reports news website Wirtualna Polska.
“Of all the members of the ATLAS group, only Poland responded to the Ukrainians’ appeal,” notes Wirtualna Polska. “Other countries considered that a mission in a country at war was too dangerous.”
🇵🇱 Trwa przywitanie przez Prezydenta RP @AndrzejDuda, szefa #MSWiA @Kaminski_M_, wiceministra @WasikMaciej i komendanta głównego Policji gen. insp. Jarosława Szymczyka funkcjonariuszy z kontyngentu @PolskaPolicja po zakończeniu misji humanitarnej na Ukrainie 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/zpc95amwvT
— MSWiA 🇵🇱 (@MSWiA_GOV_PL) February 23, 2023
Last summer, Poland’s interior minister issued a decision establishing a team of officers from the police counter-terrorism division to carry out the task. Only those who volunteered were involved. The officers also brought with them two dogs trained in detecting explosives.
Initially, the mission was meant to last three months, reports Wirtualna Polska. In December, however, it was extended by another two.
A dog that helped Polish rescuers save 12 people from the rubble in Turkey has returned to Poland for medical treatment.
The golden retriever, named Orion, is expected to make a full recovery before returning to work and "saving many more lives" https://t.co/F3hDkkmo6U
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 21, 2023
Main photo credit: Policja Polska
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
