Wirtualna Polska: Polish police carried out a demining operation in Ukraine

Polish police officers participated in a secret operation for five months to clear mines in areas of Ukraine abandoned by Russian troops, reported edition of Wirtualna Polska.

As noted, 98 people participated in the operation to clear the territory of Ukraine. Previously, the involvement of Polish police officers in this work was not reported for security reasons, the portal spoke about the operation after it was confirmed that all police officers of the republic had crossed the border and returned to Poland.

Polish police officers left for a neighboring country after Kiev’s request to the ATLAS group (a police task force that unites the special anti-terrorist units of the European Union) to send sappers to Ukraine, which, according to the publication, lacks its own specialists.

“Of all the members of the ATLAS group, only Poland responded to the call of the Ukrainians. Other countries have decided that a mission in a war-torn country is too dangerous,” writes Wirtualna Polska.

Polish specialists worked in the Kyiv region, their group “survived 129 missile and drone raids,” the newspaper notes. The sappers also cleared the territory of one of the airports, cleared roads and fields with anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, neutralized the destroyed weapons depots.

“For almost five months of service, none of the Polish police officers were injured. In recent weeks, the General Directorate of Police decided to terminate the mission. This was influenced, among other things, by intelligence about the planned Russian offensive, ”the article says.

In early February, EU diplomat Josep Borrell informedthat the EU Military Assistance Mission will train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers, and the bloc will provide 25 million euros to support demining efforts.