Prince Harry on Friday visited the deminers of the HALO Trust charity made famous by his mother Princess Diana near the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where they tested how drones and AI-powered robots are changing mine-clearance work, according to the AFP news agency.
Russian troops occupied the Kiev suburb for a month following the invasion in February 2022.
As Moscow’s forces retreated they contaminated large areas around the city with unexploded missiles, bombs and grenades.
HALO said that after four years of work to clear the area, most of the land there is now safe.
“It’s amazing to see how technology is transforming the work of the HALO Trust, making mining smarter, faster and safer,” said Harry.
Wearing a virtual reality headset, Harry piloted an AI-powered drone designed to detect and map the explosives, and later piloted a robot used to recover them.
The prince praised his mother’s work to raise awareness of mine-clearing efforts in Africa nearly three decades ago.
“When my mother visited Angola about 30 years ago, miners were working their way down to their knees to find hidden explosives,” he said.
Diana visited HALO Trust sites in Angola in 1997, where she famously walked through a minefield wearing body armour.
“Now they also use drones, artificial intelligence and robots for greater precision and security,” Harry said, highlighting the role technology plays in brainwashing efforts.
The Ukrainian government estimates that 23 percent of its total area – about 137,000 square kilometers, an area larger than Greece – is contaminated by land mines and other unexploded ordnance.
Harry suddenly arrived in Kyiv on Thursday.
In a speech at a security forum he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the invasion and called on Washington to step up its efforts to end the war.
