In uniform

Castle account

October 11, 2012 Alexander Golts

If something surprises in the explosion of ammunition near Orenburg, it is that at the same time a giant explosion (they talk either about three or four thousand tons) no one was injured. Thanks to the younger lieutenant, who quickly realized that the fire could not be extinguished on his own and led a hundred soldiers into shelter. Let's hope that the guy will not be punished. There is nothing more to be surprised.

Here is a brief and, of course, far from complete chronicle of incidents that occurred during the disposal of ammunition only this year. May: At the training ground in Mulino (Nizhny Novgorod region), one of the ammunition exploded during unloading. As a result, six military personnel died, four were injured. Then, on the territory of the military unit in the Primorsky Territory, a warehouse with 100 mm shells caught fire. As a result of the emergency, two military personnel were injured, the Ministry of Emergencies evacuated 700 inhabitants of the nearest villages. In the same May, a fire occurred in a military warehouse in the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region. At the Ashuluk training ground in the Astrakhan region, there was an explosion of ammunition intended for disposal. July: Two military personnel died in the explosion of ammunition at the Pogonovo training ground near Voronezh. In the same month, a train with ammunition burned out in the Novosibirsk region. Last year, two dozen incidents occurred, most with human victims.

And each time the Ministry of Defense and military prosecutors conducted a strict investigation, the perpetrators received severe but fair punishment. Not only that, for this occasion, both Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin and Putin himself acted. The military department held a special collegium. The result, as we see, is zero.

Otherwise, alas, could not be. The depots of the Ministry of Defense under the eyeballs are clogged with their outbuildings with shells, mines and bombs. How many of them are exactly, no one knows. Vladimir Putin claims: now, 10 million tons of ammunition are required to utilize. At the same time, the chief of the General Staff Nikolai Makarov speaks of six million tons located in the warehouses of the military department.

One way or another, it was decided: this year it is necessary to eliminate about two million tons. Of these, only 160 thousand tons will be disposed of industrialized. The rest by undermining ... with all the ensuing, or rather, taking off the consequences into the air. The case is also aggravated by the fact that in the braces they are engaged in military service soldiers, who, if they taught how to handle such dangerous “subjects”, then from the strength of a month.

In parallel with the recycling process, the dispute between the military and industry representatives stretches. The latter argue that a much more ammunition could eliminate, which the military is allocated to them. To which the officials of the military department indicate: the ammunitions do not possess either capacities or warehouse premises in order to process the "ammunition" inherited from the Soviet Union. And to create additional capacities, there are no means, alas,.

In principle, everything that happens could be perceived as an inevitable evil. The danger in storage of ammunition, some of which are released almost in the 30s of the last century, is immeasurably higher than the risks of possible undermining. Well, about the connection between the cutting of the forest and the chips, this was not Serdyukov invented.

If not for one circumstance. On the day when the details of the Orenburg “incident” appeared in the press, Kommersant said: the finally rising from the knees, Russia proudly refused to participate in the Nanna-Lugar program. Let me remind you that this program that received the names of two American senators who were its initiators aimed to help Russia in maintaining the safety of its nuclear arsenals, including, of course, the disposal of ammunition who served the deadline. For almost twenty years, the Americans spent half a billion dollars a year on all types of protective equipment for our nuclear arsenals - from alarm to fire extinguishers, paid for the transport with special compositions of ammunition for factories where they were dismantled. Later they began to help in the construction of capacities to eliminate chemical weapons. Of course, they had their own interest. The program started in 1992, when, due to the lack of funds for maintenance of storage facilities, it was impossible to exclude anything: the loss of ammunition (I remind you that four years later General Victor Yesin personally counted them to make sure that nothing was gone), all kinds of incidents, compared with which the blackness would have seemed children's pranks. So, helping us, the Americans insured themselves from a worldwide catastrophe. And they were ready to help from now on.

However, we are now proud. In addition, allegedly providing assistance, insidious pindos gained access to domestic secrets, which should also put a hard end. Put. Now Russia is doomed to spend an additional 15 billion rubles a year (if it wants, of course). I am far from assuming that now the disassembly of nuclear ammunition will be entrusted to the carrier soldiers. Although, maybe this is the strategic plan of the Russian authorities. And let the vile Americans worry about what is happening with our nuclear warheads day and night. Here it is, our version of nuclear deterrence. On the other hand, maybe this money would just be enough to build production facilities to dispose of conventional ammunition? And it makes sense to start negotiations with the United States for help in the elimination of ordinary ammunition. But we are proud ... We are ready to pay the lives of boys. The power of the explosions went to kilotons ...

Photo by RIA Novosti