DONETSK, May 14. /TASS/. Total removal of mines and explosives on the entire territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) will take many years, and it would be too early to speak of any timeframes at this point, the press service of the DPR emergencies ministry told TASS on Saturday.
"It is too early to speak of when the mine clearance effort can be completed. Today, one of the main tasks for the DPR emergencies ministry is to remove all explosive devices from social facilities and local infrastructure," the press service said.
"It can be said with certainty that a sweeping mine clearance effort for the entire territory will take long years," the ministry added.
At present, it is hard for bomb experts to assess the total area that requires mine clearance, because various districts of the region are being shelled by the Kiev government forces on a daily basis. Every day, bomb squads have to timely defuse newly found mines and shells on the entire territory of the republic, and at the same time to work with unexploded ordnances in areas where battles were held in the past.
In the newly liberated territories of the DPR, bomb squads often have to deal with blanket mining.
The most difficult areas are districts close to the line of contact, with the settlement of Oktyabrsky being among the hardest areas. Since the start of the year, the settlement was rigged with German-made AT2 anti-tank mines twice.
Also, Kiev troops continue to scatter prohibited anti-personnel mines known as PFM-1 Lepestok.