コソボで地雷除去を学ぶウクライナ女性たち

【ペヤＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナ人の女性たちが、コソボで地雷除去の方法を学んでいる。（写真はコソボのペヤ近郊で開催された地雷除去講習に参加するウクライナ人女性）
　現地ＮＧＯが主催する集中コースで、爆発物の探知、識別、無効化の方法を教わっている女性たちは、今後数十年にわたって故郷を守るために、数百キロ離れたコソボまでやって来た。技術を身につけた後はウクライナに戻り、ロシア軍が撤退した地域で地雷除去を行う。
　コソボ西部ペヤでは６人の女性が４月２５日から３週間のコースを受けている。近日中に２人が加わる予定で、ＮＧＯはその後もさらに多くの受講生を受け入れる予定だ。
　このコースはロシアによるウクライナ侵攻を受けて特別に開講された。誘導兵器、地雷、ロケットなど、ロシアと旧ソ連の武器に焦点を当てている。男性にも門戸は開かれているが、１８～６０歳のウクライナ人男性は出国が禁止されている。
　１９９０年代後半のコソボ紛争では、推定１万３０００人が命を落とした。そして２００８年までセルビア領だったコソボには、米国の推計で４５００か所の地雷原が残された。だが、国際的な支援によって、ほとんどの地雷は除去され、現在の危険性は「軽度」と評価されている。
　ウクライナから地雷をなくすには、数十年かかると考えられている。ＮＧＯ「ハンディキャップ・インターナショナル」のペリーヌ・ベノア氏は「すべてを除去するのに５０年はかかる」との見方を示している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/05/02-09:32）

Kateryna Grybinichenko chose to sign up after rockets fell on her home city of Sloviansk, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
The 36-year-old wanted to help -- so she joined a band of Ukrainian women taking part in an intensive demining course in Kosovo, a place all too familiar with clearing deadly explosives.
The trainees have travelled hundreds of miles, hoping to protect their homeland for decades to come.
After learning their craft from the experts, the women plan to return to Ukraine and put it into practice in areas where Russian troops have withdrawn.
There are various ways to fight, said Anastasiia Minchukova, one of the eight women who applied for the scheme.
The 20-year-old English teacher, who dons a blue protective apron and a visor for the training, said there is a huge demand for people who know (about) demining in Ukraine.
The only reason I'm here is to help my country, she said.
The trainees are being taught how to detect, identify and disable explosives on the course organised by the Mines Awareness Trust (MAT) Kosovo NGO.
Six women started the three-week programme in the western town of Peja, known as Pec to Serbs, on Monday, with two others set to arrive soon. The organisers plan to take on more trainees in the future.
The course has been specifically set up in response to the invasion of Ukraine, and focuses on Russian and former Soviet arms, including guided weapons, mines and rockets.
It is open to men too, but Ukrainian males aged 18 to 60 are banned from leaving the country. And the women here want to take part in the defence of Ukraine.
The MAT said this course is the first of its kind outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February.
- 'First-hand experience' -
Kosovo was chosen to host the scheme because of its first-hand experience, chief instructor Artur Tigani said.
We have gone through quite a similar situation, especially when it comes to contamination with unexploded devices.
An estimated 13,000 people lost their lives in the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas in the late 1990s.
The conflict ended after a NATO air campaign forced Serbian troops to withdraw from the territory, paving the way for independence in 2008.
But the war left the former Serbian province with 4,500 minefields, according to US estimates after the war.
The devices were scattered mainly in the mountainous Peja region, close to the Albanian border, where Tirana shipped arms and supplies to Albanian guerrillas.
With international help, most of the mines have been cleared, and the risk is now officially assessed as light.
The Kosovo instructors have also delivered training in Syria, Iraq and Libya.
It is our life's mission to save lives and help others save lives, said Tigani.
- Huge challenge -
The Ukrainian trainees are aware of the huge challenge they face when they get back home.
They expect to join emergency services and get to work when they return on May 13.
I've seen, while travelling in (Ukraine), the huge amount of the abandoned ammunition and unexploded ordnance laying on the ground, Grybinichenko said.
It is thought it could take decades to rid Ukraine of mines. Perrine Benoist, of the Handicap International NGO, has said it will likely take 50 years to clear everything.
Minchukova knows that she and her fellow trainees have taken on a perilous task.
But she said: It's dangerous all over Ukraine, even if you are in a relatively safe region.
I'm ready for it. I'm a Ukrainian. I'm not afraid of anything.
I know we will have a chance to prove (we are) worthy of doing the same as men.