Bridge in Western Russia Cleared of Mines Left Over from World War II - 3 April, 2003

A railway bridge in the Smolensk Region /Russia's West/ has been used for about 60 years. But only now it has turned out that the bridge was mined by the Soviet guerrillas during World War II. They planted about 20 kilograms of TNT. The bridge is located 30 kilometres away from an old Russian town of Vyazma in the railway connecting the Smolensk Region with the adjoining Bryansk Region.

During reparation works, constructors had to dig out a foundation pit near the bridge. The shovel bucket dug up a 10-kilogramm bomb with a fuse and one of bucket teeth ripped up the bomb from one side. The construction workers called combat engineers who found 40 triton blocks equal to 8 kilograms of dynamite nearby in the ground.

During World War II this part of Russia was occupied by the fascists and Russian guerrillas were very active there. Local veterans who consulted the combat engineers confirmed that the bridge had been mined by guerrillas most likely to derail a German troop train.