MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Russia allocated $1 million to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) to support its activity in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said at the ministerial conference "Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region" in Brussels. The text of his speech was released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday.
"A decision was made to allocate a voluntary contribution in the amount of $1million to the UN Mine Action Service. In the specified sphere, we call on the responsible members of the international community to follow our example as well," Vershinin said.
According to the UN and other international organizations, more than 10 million Syrians are living in districts with a high concentration of explosive objects, under the threat of injury and death, the senior diplomat reiterated. "Russia continues to put out considerable effort for the demining: about 2,000 hectares of territories, more than 3,300 buildings and about 280 km of roads were cleared, and more than 19,000 explosive objects were found and destroyed," he stressed.