Report: US Provides Ukraine With Robot Dog To Deal With Mines

By i24
Posted on 06/26/22 | News Source: i24

The robot will be used in the towns and cities surrounding Ukraine's capital Kyiv

The US military reportedly gave one of its two robotic dogs to help an American nonprofit clean up mines and other ammunition left by the Russian army in Ukraine, Foreign Policy reported after talking to a source familiar with the case.

The HALO Trust – a company with expertise in clearing landmines and other explosives – will use its ‘Spot,’ a robotic dog to remove mortar shells and cluster munitions in territories formerly controlled by Russia, Chris Whatley, the group’s executive director, told the publication.

The robot will be used in the towns and cities surrounding Ukraine's capital Kyiv

Last year, a test session showed that the robot dog was good at clearing areas with small, volatile rounds, with Whatley hoping that it also will include dealing with cluster munitions – ammunition widely used by the Russians, he told Foreign Policy.

It takes six weeks to become a deminer, and with many Ukrainians either stuck in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine or drafted into the military, the robot is a useful tool, the director said.