Russian deminers have used the Uran-6 mine clearing robot to clear a part of the Stepanakert airport area in Nagorno-Karabakh of mines. The Uran-6 helps ensure the safety of deminers and increase the effectiveness of mine clearance activities. In addition, demining activities were carried out along the Stepenakert-Shusha motorway and on Achapnyak Street in the city of Stepanakert. Russian peacekeepers have so far cleared over 80 hectares of land and 24.8 kilometers of roads of mines, and defused 4,577 explosive devices.
The Uran-6 is a Russian version of the Croatian MV-4 Dok-Ing mine-clearing robot. The Uran-6 can do the work of 20 engineer troops. It can carry out its task from at a safe distance of up to 1 km. By the end of the year 2015, the Uran-6 will be delivered to military engineers of the Russian army Southern Military District enabling them to increase effectiveness of their missions in the Chechen Republic of the Republic of Ingushetia by 15%. The system can be easily transported by a truck, a 20ft container or a transport helicopter.
The Uran-6 moves across the dangerous terrain, searches for mines and unexploded ordnance and neutralizes them on the operator’s command. Thanks to its technical characteristics, it can neutralize an explosive object with a potential of 130 lbs (59 kg) of TNT equivalent. The Uran-6 is still not fully trusted and is followed by sappers who verify how efficiently the Uran-6 has cleared the zone. The Uran-6 can be controlled up to a distance of 1,500 m and has a battery capacity up to 16 hours. It is also able to perform self-recovery from a ditch/channel by using its hydraulic arms.
Russian observation points have been established along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor connecting the region with Armenia. The peacekeeping operation’s command is stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh capital of Stepanakert. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Azerbaijan and Armenia would maintain the positions and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region.
Units of Russia’s 15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade comprise the bulk of the peacekeeping contingent in the region. Russian observation posts have been set up along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The peacekeeping operation command is located in Stepanakert, the de-facto capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. Russian engineer units have conducted a mine clearing effort on more than 414 ha of land since the start of their work in Nagorno-Karabakh, defusing nearly 19,000 explosives
