The International Committee of the Red Cross warned Wednesday of the catastrophic effects of the dispersal of mines after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, which endangers populations and relief efforts. "It's catastrophic. Previously, we knew where the dangers were. Today, we don't know anymore," said Erik Tollefsen, head of the ICRC's weapons contamination unit, at the presentation near Geneva of a new drone that uses artificial intelligence to identify mines and other explosive objects from the heat they emit.
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'Major concern'
The drone - which can cover the same area in one day as a mine clearance dog would in six months - has so far only been tested during experiments in Jordan, but the ICRC hopes to use it for the first time this year on the outskirts of Aleppo in Syria. While waiting for the small aircraft to one day fly over Ukraine, where Russia launched a massive military operation last year, the ICRC has been assisting mine clearance rescue teams for months, supporting mapping and marking operations and providing equipment and training.
But "today, all this was washed away," lamented Erik Tollefsen, because not only have the marking signs disappeared but, and "this is just as serious, the water - which is incompressible - will carry these mines" anti-personnel and anti-vehicle, such as the TM-57, to unknown places. "All we know is that they are somewhere downstream. This is a major concern because it will affect the populations but also all those who help them, "such as ambulances, explained this Norwegian specialist.
'Considerable damage'
Moscow and Kiev blame each other for the attack on the dam that supplies water to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, and is on the way of Ukrainian troops towards a reconquest of the occupied territories. The destruction of this structure led to the discharge of torrents of water into the Dnieper, pushing several thousand civilians to leave the flooded areas while raising fears of an ecological disaster. The destruction of the dam is "symbolic of the need to respect international humanitarian law," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger said Wednesday. "The damage is already considerable," she said, as she presented the mine-detecting drone to reporters.
This new instrument will not remove mines itself but must accelerate their detection thanks to its cameras, a heat detector and artificial intelligence software that the organization intends to share. "This is an advance because it covers large areas at a much higher speed" than humans or dogs, said Martin Jebens, a Danish weapons specialist at the ICRC. "In demining operations, the average figure per deminer is 50 m² per day. According to conservative estimates, this new tool should make it possible to study and treat 100,000 m² per day," said the ICRC boss.
