The machine was designed by the non-profit foundation Digger, with the aim of safely, quickly and efficiently clearing mines from areas of Ukraine that have been contaminated since the start of the war.
The machine has been handed over to the defence ministry (DDPS), according to a ministry press releaseExternal link. It is a DIGGER D-250, a type of tracked vehicle designed for mine clearance in rural areas.
It will be transported to Ukraine by lorry and is scheduled to arrive for September. Transport will be organised by the Geneva-based association Van For Life.
The aim of this Swiss machine is to assist the Ukrainian disaster relief service in clearing mines “quickly, carefully and efficiently”, says the press release.
These explosive charges are scattered tactically in war zones, to be detonated when people or vehicles pass by.
In June, Frédéric Guerne, director and founder of the Digger Foundation, told Keystone-SDA that the project was the result of an initiative by defence minister Viola Amherd.
He added that a second machine of the same type should be ready for delivery to Ukraine by the end of the year, while a third project is under way.
In addition, specialists from the Bern-based non-profit foundation Digger will train the Ukrainian authorities on site in the use of the DIGGER-250.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Macron will attend Swiss summit on Ukraine, says Zelensky
This content was published on
French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the peace conference on Ukraine at the Swiss Bürgenstock resort next month, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Top politician tells ‘corrupt’ Eurovision to stay away from Bern
This content was published on
A social media post by the president of Bern’s cantonal government critical of the Eurovision Song Contest has created waves and will be discussed in the cantonal parliament.
Swiss centre records over 200 victims of human trafficking
This content was published on
Last year 317 people took part in a protection programme run by the Specialist Unit for Trafficking in Women and Women’s Migration (FIZ) in German-speaking Switzerland.
This content was published on
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and partners are opening a field hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Lack of smartphone sustainability in Switzerland hits environment
This content was published on
Almost half of all Swiss citizens hang on to their old smartphones, tablets and laptops, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Police clear out pro-Palestinian students protesting in Geneva
This content was published on
The police intervened early on Tuesday to dislodge pro-Palestinian students who had been occupying the University of Geneva for almost a week.
New gel developed in Zurich renders alcohol harmless
This content was published on
A newly developed gel composed of whey proteins breaks down alcohol in the body and could reduce its harmful and intoxicating effects in humans.
Pro-Palestine protests extend to Basel and Fribourg universities
This content was published on
Demonstrators called for an academic boycott of all Israeli institutions and disassociation with Chaim Weizmann, the first Israeli president.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Switzerland helps Ukraine with CHF2 billion in 18 months
This content was published on
From February 2022 to July 2023, the Swiss government has supported the population affected by the war in Ukraine with a total of CHF2.03 billion.
This content was published on
A Swiss parliamentary commission has approved two motions to ease re-export rules of war materiel to third countries, including Ukraine.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.