Swiss deminers continue to work after rocket attack
Published: Thursday, Jul 25th 2024, 11:50
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Following a rocket attack on an office building belonging to the Swiss demining foundation Fondation suisse de déminage (FSD) in the city of Kharkiv, the organization continued its work on Thursday. However, it has to look for new office accommodation as the damage to the building is too extensive.
A spokeswoman for the non-governmental organization told the Keystone-SDA news agency in response to an inquiry that activities could continue because there was a second large office building in Kharkiv that had remained undamaged. Teams are also working outside in the field.
A missile hit the office building on Wednesday morning and hit it hard. No one was injured. Parts of the multi-storey building collapsed and entire facades and window fronts shattered. Debris piled up in front of the building, as can be seen in photos.
The FSD continued to assess the damage on Thursday. Equipment and office furnishings of an as yet unknown value were destroyed. The spokeswoman said that they were in contact with donors for a possible replacement of the destroyed equipment.
There are 320 people working for FSD in Kharkiv and over 600 people in Ukraine as a whole. Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine and is located in the north-east of the country. It is located on the front line of the war with Russia.
The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action is based in Geneva. According to its own information, it has been active for over 25 years and operates worldwide. It employs 800 people. Its task is to find mines and render them harmless. It also carries out educational work. In Kharkiv and Kherson, it searches for mines with drones and uses loop detectors, among other things.
©Keystone/SDA
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