To clean South Ossetia from mines!

Quite recently the International day of education concerning mine danger and the help in the activity connected with mine clearing passed. This subject remains very actual for many countries of the world which passed through armed conflicts. Mines on many continents and remain a big problem to this day. Our independent republic isn’t exception in this sense.

Operations in South Ossetia happened to breaks from 1989 to 2008. Nearly 20 years unexploded mines and shells remained on our earth. They became a source of serious danger to life of people. Search and neutralization of mines became the major task. Now three structures are purposefully engaged in it: Engineering service of the Ministry of Defence, Office on detection, mine clearing and destruction of explosive subjects at the Ministry of Emergency Situations search and rescue group and Technical office of OMON of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Only for last year and the first quarter of the present year the sappers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, for example, neutralized a set of mines, shells, grenades on the ancient earth of South Ossetia. Here is the statistics: more than three hundred grenades, 150 shells, 30 mines are revealed. This list includes also the shots from grenade launchers, rockets, machine-gun tapes, magazines and some thousands of cartridges … What here to say: explosive subjects are found every week, if it is possible to tell.

Moreover, all inhabitants of the republic know well that there are whole territories where it is simply dangerous to go! In this sense most of all problems are in Tskhinvali and Leningorsk regions. It is known that the whole minefields remained where there were Georgian military since the end of the last century … The aggressors and mined much in 2008. The problem consists that while there are no exact schemes of these minefields.

Together with the Ministry of Emergency Situations the engineering service of the Ministry of Defence created in 2004 actively works. Its tasks are defined by command: mine clearing, engineering investigation, destruction of unexploded shells, cleaning of ranges. Help to the colleagues is given also by specialists of the Russian military base.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the republic developed the plan for mine clearing of dangerous territories. But big expenses are necessary for its realization! The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov so characterized a situation:

- The sapper can work no more than one and a half hours daily. Further he loses vigilance that significantly increases the risk. And the monthly income of the sapper makes 10 thousand rubles, and there are no privileges for the people subjecting the life and health of danger, there is no life insurance and health.

To resolve a difficult situation, it is decided to stir up activities of Russian-South Ossetia Commission for cooperation in the field of the prevention and elimination of emergency situations. The question of full mine clearing of the territory of the republic was already discussed, now the matter is in concrete work on destruction of dangerous objects.