MAT Kosovo’s Ukrainian IMAS EOD Level 3 Graduate Featured in BBC News Article

When I tell my friends that I am a sapper, their reaction is shock.

Until recently, Nina Chyhrina had nothing to do with demining. She worked in IT, and when the full-scale war began, she moved to Italy. She then returned and started actively volunteering, restoring destroyed schools and hospitals.

Getting to know sappers engaged in humanitarian demining made her think about this activity.

Nina began to master the alleged non-female profession.

Nina’s choice still shocks people, because, as Nina herself says, this is a difficult and dangerous profession and it is difficult for people to imagine why girls choose such a path. When the sapper’s mother found out about her decision, she exclaimed: “This is dangerous.” But Nina believes that it is dangerous everywhere in Ukraine now, and therefore it is better to do something useful for the country than just to be afraid.

“My motivation to become a sapper is also related to a big dream: part of my family lived in Mariupol. I always tell them that one day we will meet and they will live in their hometown again, and I will clean up the area around it.”

One of the most difficult challenges in this work is listening to the stories of people from the de-occupied territories and their tears, says Nina. “They share terrible testimonies about the crimes of the Russians, and it is difficult to distance yourself from it. Each of these stories leaves a mark on the heart”