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An agreement was signed on the use of artificial intelligence in humanitarian demining work in Ukraine

March 3 The Ministry of Economy announced that an agreement was signed with the US technology company Palantir on the use of artificial intelligence in humanitarian demining work in Ukraine.

More than 270 Ukrainians, including 14 children, have been killed by mines and other explosives since the full-scale invasion began.

“Demining is the zero stage of Ukraine’s recovery. Currently, 156,000 square kilometers of land are potentially contaminated, and more than 6 million Ukrainians are at risk,” Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said at the signing of the agreement in London.

BNS photo Mines (associative photo)

According to Serhij Reva, head of the humanitarian demining department of the State Emergency Situations Service, deminers have neutralized more than 470,000 explosive devices and cleared more than 1,170 square kilometers of land since the start of the full invasion.

But clearing the land will be a huge job that will take years.

The ability to speed up the demining process, “especially in cooperation with technology companies like Palantir, is an opportunity to save lives and accelerate the reconstruction of Ukraine,” Svyrydenko said.

The agreement includes the digitization of demining operations and the automation of processes already foreseen in Ukraine’s National Mine Action Strategy until 2033, according to a press release from the Ministry of Economy.

It also includes the development of digital capabilities to assess and prioritize risk in mined regions, as well as the use of Palantir’s artificial intelligence platform assistant for decision-making in demining operations.

This platform will use information from local and regional governing bodies, as well as ministries, agencies and the previous work of deminers.

Based on this data, the platform might advise deminers on the most effective measures to take in a given area, such as whether they should use drones or more traditional demining methods.

Photo of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Russia conducted an air strike in Kherson

According to the Ministry of Economy, the main goal is “to mine territories faster and at lower costs.”

Several countries are assisting Ukraine in demining, providing training and equipment.

In February, the United States donated more than a million dollars worth of demining equipment to Ukraine’s state special transport service.