05.09.2024
Saving lives with firefighting robots in Ukraine
Ukrainian firefighters use innovative equipment to extinguish fires, with specialised robots carrying out dangerous tasks for the emergency services.
Firefighter Sofia expertly steers the specialised robot towards the truck to put out the fire from a safe distance. It's just a drill, but the 21-year-old Ukrainian is already excited about the opportunities the technology offers. She is part of a special unit that will be using remote-controlled robots in Ukraine for the first time. Together with her colleagues, she learns how to use the new robots correctly and maintain them properly. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH organised the training in Germany and also procured the robots that are now being used in Ukraine.
Strengthening disaster management in Ukraine in the long term
Firefighters in Ukraine are playing a more vital role than ever in protecting people. They not only extinguish fires, but are also deployed to clear mines and collapsed buildings in the Russian war of aggression, frequently endangering their own lives in the process. The state-of-the-art firefighting robots take some of the pressure off, extinguishing fires, moving heavy loads, transporting injured individuals, taking samples and relaying vital information to command centres, helping the firefighters to protect the approximately five million people in the greater Kyiv area more efficiently.
On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ is working with Ukraine's state fire and disaster management services and selected municipalities to improve disaster response. As project manager Christian Poschmann explains: ‘This is about more than just getting urgently needed materials to Ukraine, it’s about building the capacities of Ukrainian firefighters and reducing the long-term burden on them, which will help ensure that they can protect the population even in times of war.’
