Contamination and Impact

Mines

Russia is heavily contaminated with mines, much of it resulting from World War II, as well as from conflict in the north Caucasus since the early 1990s.

Mines have been used extensively in the two major conflicts in Chechnya. Estimates of the number vary greatly, because there has been no effort to comprehensively survey or catalogue the impact or scope of the problem.^[1] In 2009, Chechen officials were quoted as having estimated that 24.5km² of land was affected, of which 16.5km² was farmland.^[2] Casualties continued to occur in Chechnya in 2009, albeit at a reduced rate.^[3] In addition to Chechnya, mine incidents have been reported in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and North Ossetia.^[4]

Cluster munition remnants

Cluster munitions were used extensively by Russian Federation forces in Chechnya, during the 1994–1996 conflict and again during the recurrence of hostilities in 1999.^[5] The extent of residual contamination is not known.

Other explosive remnants of war

Explosive remnants of war (ERW) include ordnance from World War II as well as from the conflicts in the Caucasus. ERW are said to be a significant problem in Dagestan, especially in Botlikh, Buynaksk, and Novolaksky districts.^[6] The extent of residual contamination is not known.

There also appears to be a problem with poor management of ammunition stockpiles. On 14 September 2009 a military ammunition storage area (ASA) in Karabash, in southwestern Russia, blew up, killing a deputy commander and injuring two military personnel.^[7] The extent of any residual contamination is not known. On 13 November 2009 near Ulyanovsk, a Russian navy ASA exploded as a result of fire. This incident resulted in the death of two service personnel and 60 people were injured.^[8] The incident destroyed three munition depots and five ammunition wagons.^[9] In addition, on 23 November 2009, another explosion occurred at the same ASA as a result of UXO exploding when personnel tried to load items left after the fire on 13 November 2009 onto a truck. As a result of this second incident a further eight service personnel from a demining unit were killed and two others injured. ^[10]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

 

There is no formal civilian mine action program in Russia and no national mine action authority. Mine clearance is carried out by the federal Ministry of Defense Engineers, demining brigades of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES),^[11] through its specialized demining units, EMERCOM Demining and the “Leader” Center for Special Tasks.^[12]

A special committee to deal with mine and ERW problems has been set up within Chechnya, comprising different ministries.^[13] It is not known what concrete actions this committee has carried out.

Land Release

Russia has continued to clear ordnance left over from World War II from its territory but has shown little commitment to clearing mines and ERW from Chechnya. It has not reported in detail on clearance progress.

On 22 July 2009, the Minister of Emergency Situations, Sergey Shoygu, was reported to have officially stated that “within 10 days” the ministry would set up “special groups” to demine agricultural land in Chechnya and following this statement, the president of Chechnya stated that all mines and ERW would be cleared from the territory of the republic in “a short time.”^[14] Some clearance has since taken place (see Mine and battle area clearance section below). On 23 November 2009, however, more than 10,000 people are reported to have taken to the streets of Grozny, calling for demining of all contaminated areas in Chechnya. The head of the Chechen parliament delivered a speech in which he stated it was impossible to achieve this goal without the support of federal ministries of defense and emergency situations.^[15]

In May 2010, it was reported that the Chechen Parliament had resolved to formally request Moscow to assist with clearing minefields in the republic.^[16]

Mine and battle area clearance in 2009

Russia has reported only partially on clearance within its territory, and does not disaggregate between mine and battle area clearance.

During 2009, two clearance operations were conducted in Chechnya by specialist personnel from the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In the first, 650,000m² of land was reportedly cleared in the area around Grozny, with the destruction of 183 ERW.^[17] In the second, an additional 1.1km² was said to have been cleared, with the destruction of a further 349 ERW.^[18]

Russia has also reported that during 2009, Ministry of Defense Engineers destroyed a total of 255,329 ERW. The area cleared and their locations were not specified.^[19]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

UNICEF has been supporting mine/ERW risk education (RE) in Chechnya, but received only limited funding for its activities in 2009, from the United Kingdom. At the end of March 2010, lack of funds forced it to suspend its RE program.^[20]