Demining of Underground Adits in Ukraine
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Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction Volume 11 Issue 1 The Journal of Mine Action Article 10 July 2007 Demining of Underground Adits in Ukraine Yurii Kolisnyk Ukroboronservice State Company Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal Part of the Defense and Security Studies Commons, Emergency and Disaster Management Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, and the Peace and Conflict Studies Commons Recommended Citation Kolisnyk, Yurii (2007) "Demining of Underground Adits in Ukraine," Journal of Mine Action : Vol. 11 : Iss. 1 , Article 10. Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal/vol11/iss1/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction by an authorized editor of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Kolisnyk: Demining of Underground Adits in Ukraine Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia presented serving as a role model for other countries OSCE—primarily disarmament, human the landmine and UXO problem of the in the region. Largely because of its status rights and environmental issues—to be South Caucasus. Many workshops such as a State Party to the Ottawa Convention, truly exercised, participation in mine-action Demining of Underground Adits in Ukraine as this one are full of some successes and Tajikistan’s mine-action program receives activities is essential for OSCE. many failures. The key is to keep push- financial support from several donor coun- See Endnotes, Page During World War II the Soviet Union established ammunition depots with over 10,000 metric tons ing the workshops because success is being tries. All three delegations from central Asia achieved, even if change is gradual. supported the idea of developing a follow-up On the basis of one of conclusion of the (11,023 U.S. tons) of explosives around the Ukrainian towns of Sevastopol and Kerch. Stored in adits,1 Some consensus was observed on the regional workshop in the near future. Tbilisi workshop, Canada and Slovenia, sup- desirability for all countries in the region to The Tbilisi workshop ended with a ported by Kazakhstan, prepared a follow-up these explosives threaten the peaceful lives of present-day Ukrainians. In 2002, teams began the task work toward becoming States Parties to the roundtable discussion in which participants workshop for central Asia in the framework Ottawa Convention once peace agreements discussed possible next steps in mine action. of the OSCE. The workshop was held 26–27 of removing unexploded ordnance, landmines and debris. They encountered many problems while to regional conflicts are reached. Georgia The following cooperation was suggested: March 2007 in Kazakhstan, but specifics were and Azerbaijan have already made positive • Continuation of joint training not available at the time of this writing. pursuing their goal of eliminating these stockpiles by 2010. Their efforts are described in this article. steps by announcing a moratorium on the • Cooperation in mine-victim assistance use, production and transfer of anti-person- • Encouragement to announce a mora- by Yurii Kolisnyk [ Ukroboronservice State Company ] nel landmines. The main obstacle for acces- torium on the use of anti-person- sion to the Convention is dealing with ter- nel mines and to voluntarily submit ritory not controlled by national authorities. reports on each country’s respective n spite of the fact that 60 years have already passed since the biggest th In the South Caucasus there are unresolved landmine situation in accordance with and the most severe war of the 20 century, the problem of clearing conflicts in the OSCE areas, including con- Article 7 of the Ottawa Convention Ia large number of unexploded ordnance from Ukrainian territories flicts in Georgia (South Osetia and Abhazija) • Marking of all known minefields is still topical. Engineering and demining units from the Ministry and Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabah). • Including the mine problem in ne- of Defense completed partial clearance of the territories in Ukraine A suggestion to include mine-action ac- gotiations within the OSCE Minsk in the mid-1970s. Despite the considerable work the deminers have done and are still doing on extraction, neutralization and destruction tivities on the agenda of peace negotiations Group Jernej Cimperšek is the Deputy 7 of the detected World War II unexploded objects, there are still ac- within the OSCE Minsk Group was widely • Developing a follow-up workshop in Head of the Permanent Mission of supported, as well as the option to meet Central Asia in the near future. Slovenia to the OSCE in Vienna. cidents resulting in injuries to and deaths of the civilian population. jointly in Georgia’s offices with Georgia He was Director of the Slovenian Nowadays, the government of Ukraine is improving the procedures International Trust Fund for Demining acting as a mediator between Armenia and Conclusion of mine action in accordance with the requirements of International and Victim Assistance from 1998 until Mine Action Standards and plans to set up a specialized governmen- Azerbaijan. Cooperation in mine action among 2004. Cimperšek holds a Master of In the second part of the workshop, the countries is one of the first steps for confi- Science in civil engineering. tal body for coordinating all mine action in the country. representatives from three central Asian dence building in the region, as experience Clearing unexploded objects from Ukraine’s territories is countries (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and from southeastern Europe shows. Jernej Cimperšek the obligation of the Ministries of Emergency and of Defense. Counsellor Kazakhstan) presented the mine problems A simple conclusion can be drawn from Ukroboronservice State Company (through its structural subunit, the Permanent Mission to Slovenia to the Center of Humanitarian Demining) specializes in carrying out com- in their countries. Common problems are the Tbilisi workshop: Demining is consid- OSCE mines that lie on state borders, especially on ered a complementary activity of the OSCE, E-mail: [email protected] mercial projects in Ukraine and abroad. This company has played the the border with Uzbekistan. Only Tajikistan not a central one. However, since demin- Web site: http://www.osce.org/ leading role in establishing humanitarian demining in Ukraine. has joined the Ottawa Convention, possibly ing makes way for the core activities of the The area most contaminated by unexploded objects is the Crimea Peninsula, namely the towns Sevastopol and Kerch, where 30 people have perished or been injured due to WWII unexploded objects in recent years. In January 2001 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a state program—“Clearance of WWII Unexploded Objects in the Area of Towns of Sevasopol and Kerch until 2010”—based on the results of investigations the specialists of Ukroboronservice State Company had done. This program will run until the end of December 2010. Iztok Hočevar is Advisor to the The Inkerman Adits Ammunition Depot Director for International Relations of the International Trust Fund for The main area that needs to be cleared of explosives within the Demining and Victim Assistance in framework of this program is the destroyed Inkerman Adits located Slovenia. HoМevar holds a bachelor’s two kilometers (1.3 miles) from Sevastopol. The Inkerman Adits were degree in political science. destroyed due to an ammunition explosion in June 1942. Before the explosion, they served as the Soviet Army ammunition depot, storing Iztok HoМevar Director Advisor for International more than 10,000 metric tons (11,023 U.S. tons) of ordnance. Relations A considerable amount of ammunition (approximately 1,000 to International Trust Fund for Demining 3,000 metric tons [1,102 to 3,307 U.S. tons]) did not detonate dur- and Mine Victims Assistance ing that explosion and until now access to it has been obstructed. The Zabrv 12 2 1292 Ig / Slovenia intact areas of the galleries are practically inaccessible. The majority Tel: +386 1 479 6586 of the ammunition that did not detonate has been mechanically and Fax: +386 1 479 6590 thermally damaged as well as affected by weather, such as erosion and E-mail: [email protected] the periodic influence of ground heave. Web site: www.itf-fund.si Examination of the destroyed adits has shown that the rock massif A Ukroboronservice demining team comprised of an explosive-ordnance-disposal OSCE Workshop “Confidence Building through Mine Action” held in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2005. over them consists of separate blocks (more than 1,000 cubic me- expert, four deminers and a qualified medic get ready for landmine clearance. PHOTO BY IZTOK HOМEVAR All photos courtesy of Ukroboronservice. 26 | focus | journal of mine action | winter 2006 | 11.1 Published by JMU Scholarly Commons, 2007 11.1 | winter 2006 | journal of mine action | focus | 2 1 Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction, Vol. 11, Iss. 1 [2007], Art. 10 ters or 35,315 cubic feet) and is separated by a consid- • Doubling exits in vertical shafts to erable number of vertical and inclined splits. The adits provide easier evacuation for cave-go- themselves are mainly covered with rock fragments, but ing teams there are also some preserved areas. Access to the adits is • Prompt first aid to victims and evacu- quite difficult but possible through the cracks and gaps ation to the medical center in ac- between the rock fragments. Teenagers and adults (so- cordance with International Mine called “black diggers”) used such means to quarry the Action Standards5 metals and explosives (TNT and powders) in order to sell the remains of metal or TNT for money. Conclusion Today a key danger of the adits is that the houses, Besides the Inkerman Adits, the state railway station, motorways, bridges and industrial infra- clearance program of unexploded objects structure of Sevastopol and Inkerman within a three- from Sevastopol and Kerch also takes place in During Stage One, shaft-sinking and tunneling provide underground access.