Emergency Situations Minister Volodymyr Shandra has said that there are 34 unsecured ammunition depots in Ukraine.
Shandra was speaking in an interview published in the Fakti newspaper on September 5.
"This year, we have raised the issue of liquidating former military bases where ammunition have been kept since the soviet era! There are 34 of them in Ukraine, and they occupy an area of 150,000 hectares. And people - people looking for metals, people who are simply taking a walk - are dying near them every year," Shandra said.
According to him, such ammunition depots are mostly located in forests.
Shandra said that the Emergency Situations Ministry has drafted a mine-clearing program and that it has been submitted to the cab for approval.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, a fire started at the ammunition depot of the army unit A0829, which is located near the town of Lozova (Kharkiv region), on August 27, causing explosion of ammunition.
Fires broke out at ammunition depots in Novobohdanivka (Zaporizhia region) on May 6, 2004, July 23, 2005, and August 19, 2006, causing explosion of ammunition.
