VELIKY NOVGOROD, August 21 (RIA Novosti) - Sappers of the Russian Emergencies Ministry have carried out a mine clearance operation in the Novgorod Region, in northwestern Russia. They cleared as many as 453 Soviet and German-made mines surviving from the Second World War.
The mines, found on WWII battlefields, were destroyed on Friday in an unpopulated area near the town of Staraya Russa, report spokespeople for the Emergencies Ministry's regional branch. According to them, a total 1,381 WWII mines have been destroyed in the region over the past five days and about 8,000 mines since the year began.
