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NICOSIA (Cyprus), May 12 (AP) — Cyprus is working with Irish and U.S. military experts to help train two groups of Ukrainian personnel to clear countless unmarked minefields in its own country, its defense minister said Friday.
Minister Michalis Georgallas said in response to inquiries from The Associated Press that the first group of 24 Ukrainians are currently undergoing training at a military facility in Cyprus and another group is expected to arrive next month.
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He said the training took place under the auspices of the European Union Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM Ukraine), which was launched last October in response to Ukraine’s appeal for support.
Georgallas said that based on current conditions in Ukraine, it would take at least 30 years for a team of 5,000 demining experts to remove all the mines from the unmarked minefields on the front lines.
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He said Cypriot military officers were also taking part in training for Ukrainian personnel in Germany.
Cyprus is experienced in demining as thousands of deadly munitions remain.
The mines are remnants of fortifications erected after the 1974 Turkish invasion, sparked by a coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.
For years, the United Nations has assisted in demining efforts, particularly in the buffer zone it controls, which separates the Turkish Cypriots in the north from the internationally recognized Greek Cypriots in the south.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev had delayed a long-awaited counteroffensive against Russian occupying forces because it lacked enough Western weapons to succeed without causing too many casualties.
Ukraine has launched a counterattack against Russia’s more than 14-month-old invasion as warmer weather improves battlefield conditions.
But Zelensky told the European broadcaster in an interview aired on Thursday that it was “unacceptable” that a counteroffensive would now cause too many casualties.
The Ukrainian president said more time was needed because “not all are in place” in terms of equipment.
Ukrainian troops are receiving Western training and advanced weapons in preparation for the offensive.
Cyprus has said it will not transfer its Soviet-era tanks, armored personnel carriers and anti-aircraft missile batteries to Ukraine as it continues to stand off with 35,000 Turkish troops deployed in the north. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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