15 March 2014, 11:16
In Chechnya, servicemen start another phase of demining
Servicemen of the engineering-sapper units of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) have started a new phase of clearing the territory of Chechnya of mines, bombs and other explosive devices, said a source from the Chechen Military Commandant. The militaries plan to clean up about 8000 hectares.
The demining will cover the Achkhoy-Martan and Grozny Districts, and the highland Shatoy and Vedeno Districts.
In 2013, the militaries of the above MoD's units demined over 2000 hectares of agricultural lands; they found and neutralized over 1700 explosive items.
During the warfare in Chechnya, over 4000 persons suffered from explosions, including about 800 children. In the past few years the number of explosion victims in Chechnya has declined considerably.
However, every year a few explosions occur, including fatal ones. In 2013, two persons were killed by mine explosions; and in 2011, 20 cases of mine explosions occasionally triggered by people were registered.
Author: Muslim Ibragimov Source: CK correspondent