More than 2.3 thousand hectares of territory have been cleared of explosive objects
MOSCOW, November 13. /tass/. The servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh destroyed more than 26 thousand explosive objects during the humanitarian demining of the area during the year. This was reported in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
"In total, since November 23, 2020, humanitarian demining units of the Russian peacekeeping contingent have cleared more than 2.3 thousand hectares of territory, as well as 683 km of roads and about 2 thousand buildings of explosive objects. In total, more than 26 thousand ammunition were found and neutralized," said Ilya Stolichny, a representative of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, whose words are quoted in the message.
The Ministry of Defense also reported that during the demining of the area in the vicinity of the village of Ballydzha in the Askeran district, Russian sappers discovered and identified an unrecoverable antipersonnel mine pressure PMN-1. "The commander decided to destroy it with an overhead charge on the spot. This explosive object represents the second degree of danger and must be destroyed at the place of detection," the department explained.
It is noted that when clearing the area, Russian sappers used the latest unique means of engineering reconnaissance and protection, including selective mine detectors IMPS-2, protective suits of the sapper OVR-2 "Sokol", seekers of non-contact explosive devices "Korshun". In a remote area with difficult terrain, calculations of mine-search dogs were involved.
The situation in the conflict zone around Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020, active fighting began in the disputed territory. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a joint statement on the complete cessation of hostilities. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the occupied positions, a number of districts came under the control of Baku, and Russian peacekeepers were stationed along the line of contact and the Lachin corridor.