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Russian sappers launch mine clearing operation in Serbia’s Paracin

“Bomb disposal specialists will use remote control robots, capable of shredding plants and and metallic objects,” spokesman Aleksander Drobyshevsky says

© EPA/MAK REMISSA

MOSCOW, March 27. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian sappers have started a mine-clearing operation in the area around the town of Paracin in central Serbia.

“The operation began on March 26 when specialists of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry arrived in Serbia’s Paracin,” spokesman Aleksander Drobyshevsky told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

“The operation will be held in two stages: from March to June and from June to September,” he said.

The ministry’s group involves 37 bomb disposal specialists from the Leader 294th High-Risk Rescue Centre and the 179th Rescue Centre.

“The centres’ servicemen have years-long experience of international mine clearing operations. They have been involved in the Russian-Serbian project for years,” Drobyshevsky said.

The explosive devices will have to be gathered mostly in Paracin’s suburbs with their dense greenery, he said.

“Bomb disposal specialists will use remote control robots, capable of shredding plants and and metallic objects,” Drobyshevsky said. “There where robots will fail the mine clearing work will have to be done by hand.”

Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Situations conducts the mine clearing operation in Serbia under the Russian government’s instructions.

Serbia’s territory is still stuffed with unexploded ammunition (bombs, bullets, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, etc), some of them dating back to World War II.

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