Ukrainian Police Train a New Generation of Bomb-Disposal Experts with Mriya Aid’s Support
Police Academy instructors complete IMAS EOD certification to pass on their expertise to thousands more
russia’s drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure have intensified, striking not only front-line areas but also cities once considered relatively safe. Police are the first to arrive after a blast, confronting unexploded ordnance (UXO), sub-munitions and other hazards that threaten lives. Every Ukrainian officer must be able to assess the danger and follow strict safety protocols and, in cities such as Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, be prepared to neutralize explosives on the spot when necessary. Ukrainian police officers are the first line of defence for the public against the explosive threats of cluster munitions and drone warheads.
Recognizing this need early in the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs set out to create its own center for specialized sapper training. In 2025, the Government of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) joined the effort to help build the demining capability of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. While the initiative takes shape, Mriya Aid responded to an urgent request from the ministry, arranging IMAS EOD training at MAT Kosovo for five experienced lecturers from two of the country’s largest police academies.
Two instructors from the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs and three from the Kyiv Police Academy, Primary Professional Training Centre completed IMAS EOD Levels 1 and 2 in August 2025, and are already teaching their own cadets and officers. All five instructors teach disciplines focused on identifying explosive hazards, securing a safe perimeter for the public, and safely destroying explosive hazards. Each instructor will train roughly 1000 national police cadets each year in identifying and securing UXO threats. The instructors also provide UXO safety information sessions to community leaders and the public at large.
“When we say that mine action training saves lives, it’s no exaggeration. That’s the reality Ukrainians live with,” said Andriy Krasnoshchok, a lecturer at the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs. “My colleagues, friends and former students have been killed by russian ordnance.”
Andriy Krasnoshchok has taught within the Ministry for 25 years, specializing in the identification and neutralization of explosives. He defended a dissertation on police training methodology, and continually updates his courses to match the rapidly evolving realities of war and innovations in explosive threats. During his program at MAT Kosovo, he says the most eye-opening exercise involved moving a live explosive without specialized equipment. “These are situations we actually face. Now I know the reasoning I must pass on to students who may find themselves in that position. The IMAS course provided invaluable exercises for skills, knowledge and experience that are indispensable to our work.”
His Kyiv colleague and 20-year police veteran who has taught for seven years, Andriy Leonenko, found it equally important to learn when and how an officer can safely destroy an explosive device on site.
“A police officer is someone who makes critical decisions, and those decisions affect not only their own life and health, but those around them,” added Volodymyr Moroz, who has taught explosives engineering in Lviv for eight years. “Watching the MAT Kosovo instructors and their decision-making process was crucial. The intensive integration of theory and practice is something I’m already bringing into my own courses.”
“Ukraine faces a level of explosive contamination unseen anywhere else in the world,” notes Lesya Granger, CEO and Chair of Mriya Aid. “Even now russia attacks in real time, dropping sub-munitions and worse on densely populated cities. We were eager to answer the Interior Ministry’s call to help train seasoned instructors.”
Since November 2022, Mriya Aid has trained 285 Ukrainian sappers to International Mine Action Standards at the MAT Kosovo training centre. The organization also represents Canada in the international Demining Capability Coalition, led by Lithuania and Iceland, and has worked with the Ministry of Defence’s Main Directorate of Mine Action as well as the Ministry of Economy’s Demine Ukraine team.
Since Mriya Aid launched its “EOD Train & Equip” program in 2022 for Ukrainian units, the organization has supplied hundreds of Ukrainian state agency deminers and EOD professionals with IMAS EOD training to the highest levels and critical equipment and protective gear. Since 2024, Mriya Aid has also led international advocacy and public education through thought leadership campaigns to accelerate humanitarian demining across Ukraine.