Fires pose no threat to Kurgan chemical weapons depots

The chemical weapons depot in Shchyuchie, a village in the Kurgan region (the Trans-Urals), is not threatened by fire, a spokesman for the press service of the Kurgan regional administration reported on Tuesday.

Forest fires have been raging in the region for the last five days. However, according to Pyotr Chikishev, the deputy head of the Shchyuchie administration, there are no large fires in the district. Small fires have been put out by local firefighters.

The commander of the Sahchyuchie garrison and the head of the chemical weapons depots, Colonel Gennady Tatarintsev, said that servicemen are on duty 24 hours a day and that there are not threats to the depots. The chemical weapons depot in Planovy, a village in the Shchyutie district, is more than 150 kilometers away from the forest fires in the Kargopol district. In addition, there are no uninterrupted forests between the Kargopol district and Shchyuchie.

The Shchyuchie depot accounts for about 7% of the chemical weapons in the world. The construction of a chemical weapon disposal plant has being going on there for the last few years.