MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2020) The Russian Defense Ministry has sent military specialists from the radiation, chemical and biological protection unit, as well as special equipment to eliminate the threat of environmental pollution in the town of Usolye-Sibirskoye, which is located in the Irkutsk Region, the ministry's press service said in a statement on Monday.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Defense Ministry was ready to engage in an effort to eliminate environmental pollution in Usolye-Sibirskoye. In addition, the leader instructed the government to develop a roadmap to eliminate environmental damage in three months.
"The Russian Defense Ministry military specialists of the radiation, chemical and biological protection unit and special equipment to assist in eliminating the threat of environmental pollution in Usolye-Sibirskoye," the statement said.
In total, the first convoy sent by the ministry includes more than 10 units of special equipment and about 30 military specialists of the radiation, chemical and biological protection unit.
Later in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to allocate funds from the Federal budget until August 31 to solve environmental issues in Usolye-Sibirskoye, according to the Kremlin website.
In particular, the funds will aim at detecting and assessing objects of accumulated environmental damage located on the territory of Usolye-Sibirskoye, organizing the elimination of accumulated harm to the environment and restoring the disturbed state of the environment in the area.
The industrial site in Usolye-Sibirskoye was previously used for the production of chemical products by the Usoliekhimprom enterprise, which ceased production activities back in 2010. Following the termination of production, a significant amount of waste was placed in underground tanks, as a result of which soil and underground waters have been saturated with hazardous chemicals.
