Hamburg and Switzerland hand over GCS-200 mine-clearing vehicles to Ukraine

The Swiss government and the Senate of the German city of Hamburg supplied Ukraine with GCS-200 mine-clearing vehicles.

Representatives of the German Aid to Ukraine project said that the Hamburg authorities had confirmed the transfer of four GCS-200 mine-clearing vehicles to Ukraine.

The mine-clearing vehicles from Hamburg were delivered to Ukraine at different times.

According to the decision of the Hamburg Senate, adopted in September 2023, the city allocated about €10 million for this equipment.

In addition to four GCS-200 mine-clearing vehicles, Hamburg also supplied 30 mine detectors.

Additional deliveries are planned for this year, including 20 explosion-proof suits and 10 manipulators for transporting and destroying explosive devices.

Switzerland has also recently handed over the first of three specialized GCS-200 mine-clearing vehicles to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

By the end of 2024, Ukraine will receive another complex from the Swiss partners, and in 2025 – the third.

At the beginning of 2022, there was not a single complex for the mechanized demining in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

So far, thanks to international support, Ukraine has received 68 units of such equipment. In June, the United States also handed over a GCS-200 mine-clearing vehicle to Ukraine.

“The number of injuries among sappers has decreased fivefold since the start of using these vehicles. We are sincerely grateful to our Swiss partners for their ongoing support, which allows us to significantly improve the safety and efficiency of demining,” said the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.