European scientists are seriously concerned about the Baltic security problems associated with chemical weapons repositories. After the results of the study of the seabed were made public, it became clear that danger would come from the depths.
Oceanologists - participants international project CHEMSEA, which united 11 research institutes from Poland, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Lithuania are sounding the alarm. The inspection of underwater repositories of sunken chemical weapons has become a cause for serious concern for the future of the entire Baltic region.
The 50 thousand bombs and shells that hit the Baltic after World War II contain about 15 thousand tons of various chemical compounds, European researchers found as part of the project. Some of the ammunition is severely damaged by corrosion, and in the Gotland Basin itself there are already 8 thousand dangerous objects polluting the water. Near these objects, the bottom is contaminated. According to research, fish swimming in areas where sunken weapons are located have more diseases than those living in other regions of the sea. They also have genetic defects.
Chemical weapons at the bottom Baltic Sea And Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Britain, many environmentalists have long called it a time bomb. No one knows for what reasons such a dangerous and deadly arsenal was not disposed of on land, but buried at the bottom of the sea.
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During the Second World War, the Reich had more than 65 thousand combat weapons. chemicals and 300 thousand tons of chemical reserves. About two-thirds of this deadly raw material was used to make projectiles. By the end of the war, this arsenal was unused, and over 300 thousand tons of chemical death went to the winning armies. The Allies decided to sink them into the sea. In 1947-1948, by order of the Soviet military command, about 35 thousand tons of chemical weapons were sunk by sailors of the Baltic Fleet near the islands of Gotland and Bornholm, more compactly in the first case and very dispersed in the second. According to archival data, these 35 thousand tons consist of 408,565 shells containing mustard gas, 71,468 mustard gas bombs, 17 thousand bombs with adamsite, 1004 one and a half ton barrels of mustard gas, 10,420 mines and containers filled with gas« Cyclone B» .
Video
Video: Natalya Nikitina on YouTube
Dangerous Baltic Poisons of the Third Reich.
Contrary to archival data, the greatest concern among participants in the CHEMSEA project is the Gotland Trench, where shells, according to researchers, are scattered over an area of 1,500 square meters. km. Most of the landmines buried here are filled with mustard gas, but there are also ammunition containing arsenic and even rare gas tabun. With the passage of time and under the influence aquatic environment sealed metal cases began to leak, and now the deadly filling is in direct contact with the environment.
I can’t say anything about arsenic, but at temperatures up to 10ºC mustard gas is in solid state of aggregation. That is, its evaporation cannot be too significant. However, the danger of such landfills cannot be underestimated. The decay period of mustard gas and the same arsenic is an order of magnitude longer than the decay period of iron.
However, there are other, more decisive points of view.
My grandmother is a fifth-generation chemist and took part in operations to scuttle chemical weapons. The classification of secrecy was removed from them only recently. Immediately before her death, she asked to urge the public to save the Baltic from imminent destruction. One of the ideas proposed is the creation of a concrete sarcophagus.
It cannot be said that the problem of chemical burials has worried only European scientists all this time. Both during the USSR and in the post-perestroika period, domestic scientists on the ship “Akademik Shtokman”, specializing in such research, repeatedly conducted expeditions to the islands of Gotland and Bronholm. Monitoring environment did not cause serious concern among researchers. World-famous scientists believe that, in terms of their consequences, any decisive actions to raise weapons or build a sarcophagus in the area of the burial grounds could result in even more fatal consequences.
Here, like doctors, main principle: do no harm. The ammunition has been lying at the bottom for a long time. Buried under a layer of silt and sand. In this static state, they probably have an impact on the environment, but to a much lesser extent than they will when they begin to be disturbed. Nature wiser than people. I am sure that time and the sea will take their toll.
The arguments of the oceanologist, who examined the bottom of the entire World Ocean, are confirmed by scientists from a completely different field.
If we talk about danger, then I, as a naval officer, believe that the greatest threat is posed by the uncontrolled dumping of chemical weapons by the Allies in the Kattegat and Skagerrak straits, connecting the Baltic with the Atlantic. In 1947, the Americans and British loaded chemical raw materials in containers onto confiscated merchant ships and scuttled them, but not in the depths of the ocean, where they were not transported due to bad weather. The barrels are not shells; they have long since rotted. And the currents present in the straits prevent burial from death hazardous substances in the ground and make it possible to distribute chemical raw materials over many distances.
Introduction
Observations, assessments and forecasts of the ecological state of the Baltic Sea in the burial places of captured German chemical weapons, as well as disposal methods contained in sunken chemical munitions, chemical warfare agents and their decomposition products are vitally important. important for 85 million people living in 9 countries on the shores of the Baltic Sea in close proximity to burial sites.
This is due to the special environmental danger that threatens people as a result of the possible entry into the human body of even a small amount of toxic substances drowned in the sea. For more than 60 years, the sunken chemical weapons lie and rust at the bottom. It is in metal shells that are already quite rusty. No one doubts the need to take effective measures to eliminate or bury these weapons. But, unfortunately, no measures have been taken in this direction so far.
Historical information about the places, quantities, methods and timing of burial of chemical weapons
After the end of the 2nd World War, it was discovered in the occupied territory of Germany 296103 tons of chemical weapons. On Potsdam Peace Conference of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition in 1945 a decision was made to destroy these chemical weapons. As a result, 267.5 thousand tons of bombs, shells, mines and containers containing 50 - 55 thousand tons of 14 types of chemical warfare agents were dropped into the Baltic Sea, its bays and straits.
Today, it is probably impossible to agree that the initiators of this action did not know about the environmental danger. And it is also impossible to accept the cause of the sinking as possible sabotage, since chemical weapons were drowned for 10 years.
The Americans loaded 130 thousand tons of chemical weapons into 42 ships and sent them to the North Sea, but a storm prevented them, and these ships were sunk in the Skagerrak and Kattegat straits, connecting the Baltic with the Atlantic, only one ship passed through the straits and was sunk in the North Sea. In 2000, an expedition organized by Russian scientists on the Professor Shtokman discovered and mapped 27 of the 42 vessels. They lie in the Skagerrak Strait near the Swedish fishing port of Lysekil.
The British also turned out to be involved in the Baltic burials. There is information that in 1946 they sank 8,000 tons of chemical weapons in the area east of the island of Bornholm and another 15,000 tons southwest of the island. Bornholm. To confirm this information, three ships have already been found and marked on the map.
In 1945, according to available data, in the area of the Little Belt Strait, the Wehrmacht sunk 69,000 tons of artillery shells with tabun and 5,000 tons of bombs containing tabun and phosgene.
The USSR also took an active part in this matter. His Navy sank 35,000 tons of chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea. The largest (approximately 33,000 tons) officially confirmed burial of chemical weapons is located in the first area, 35 miles east of Danish island. Bornholm in the Bornholm Trench at a depth of 70 - 100 meters. The second, officially confirmed chemical weapons burial area, significantly smaller in terms of the number of dumped chemical weapons (about 2000 tons), but significantly larger in area, is located 65 miles from Liepaja southeast of the island. Gotland in the Gotland Trench at a depth of 70 - 120 meters. This area consists of several burial sites and is located in the territorial waters of several states (Sweden, Poland and Latvia). The third, officially confirmed chemical weapons burial area (approximately 5,000 tons) is located south of the Little Belt Strait.
Unlike the British and Americans, the USSR scuttled chemical weapons in a non-compact manner, scattering them over a large area, around the island. Bornholm chemical weapons are scattered over an area of 2,800 square kilometers, and near the island of Gotland, chemical weapons are scattered over an area of approximately 1,200 square kilometers.
Possible environmental impacts sunken chemical weapons on the environment
The Baltic Sea is heavily polluted as a result active work people living on its banks. Today, the problems of reducing the anthropogenic load on the Baltic, eutrophication of the Gulf of Finland and other measures to revitalize its waters are being discussed.
The burial of toxic substances in the Baltic significantly worsens ecological state environment. Currently there is whole line alarming cases likely related to the release of toxic substances into water. Thus, lung cancer among Swedish fishermen became more frequent, fish appeared, as a result of which people were poisoned, painful changes in some organs were noticed in some fish caught, and the Baltic seal population practically disappeared. There is no need to talk about the toxicity of chemical weapons, because... This weapon is specially designed for massacre of people. Scientists have proven that the entry of very small amounts of toxic substances into the human body or other living organisms can lead to irreparable consequences. The work of English geneticist Charlotte Auerbach showed that one or two molecules of mustard gas or lewisite that enter our body can disrupt the genetic code. And in an experiment with mice, she gave them water, in which there was only a memory of the presence of toxic substances in it, and they all died later a short time. Serious danger for the human body when exposed to non-minimal amounts of toxic substances, Russian scientists also confirmed. The influence of toxic substances on the human genetic code can cause mutations in 2 - 3 generations. Ichthyologists claim that among fish the number of mutant fish has already increased significantly.
From time to time, articles appear in the press that say that, according to some scientists, all toxic substances resting on the bottom gradually dissolve in large volumes of water and will not have a serious impact on human life and the living world of the sea. You may not agree with such reasoning, because the examples given above indicate the opposite. It should be taken into account that the Baltic is a very stagnant body of water, since the water in it changes over the course of 25-27 years. A large mass of toxic substances lies at the bottom in the straits and the constant bottom current towards the Baltic carries them into the reservoir. In the Baltic itself, the current is organized along the coast counterclockwise at a speed of approximately 4 knots per day. It is also important that the Baltic is shallow, with an average depth of 51 meters. Chemical weapons stored in ships are stacked in holds to great heights, and the destruction of the shells can cause the stacks to collapse and mass release large amounts of toxic substances in the water short period time. Thus, reassuring articles in the press are more likely to do harm than good, since time is wasted for possible active influence on chemical weapons for their elimination or isolation.
The situation with the organization of disposal or disposal of chemical weapons
The sunken chemical weapon was remembered almost 50 years after its burial. The reason for this should be considered to be that the burial was carried out by the military, and, as you know, everything they do is classified. Russia was one of the first to declassify materials on the disposal of chemical weapons, while the United States and England extended the secrecy for another 20 years. Russian scientists organized a scientific expedition to the Baltic, which discovered and mapped some chemical weapons burial sites, conducted underwater surveys of these objects, and took water and soil samples. Based on the results of the expedition, a report was drawn up, with which many Western experts were familiarized. Work to identify burial sites was carried out by Poland, Germany and others Baltic countries. Several frightening articles appeared in the press in which the burial of chemical weapons was called "sea Chernobyl". This problem has been discussed at almost all environmental conferences. Various commissions have been created on this issue, some of them permanent. All these bodies spent a lot of time, issued a lot of different documents, but, unfortunately, it never came to concrete cases. It is difficult to explain why this situation arises. The reasons should probably be sought primarily in the lack of political will. Additional reasons can be considered existing unresolved organizational and technical issues.
A.G. Efremov,
especially for NuclearNo.ru,
List of burial sites for toxic substances in Russia.Saratov Military Institute of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection released scientific work O.M. Demidova and others under the promising title “Transformation of mustard gas and its decomposition products in environmental objects” (Saratov, 2001, 35 p.).
One cannot help but be glad that military chemists are finally telling us what their poisonous substance - mustard gas - turns into in our common open air. It's just a pity that they were late. About 20 years or even more. And it’s even more unfortunate that, having said WHAT, military chemists did not say WHERE exactly on our land mustard gas turns into all sorts of obscene chemicals. Because without this clarification they are so important treatise it simply depreciates in value - according to official data from our generals, mustard gas is available in Russia only in one place, on Saratov land, in the Krasnopartizansky district, or more precisely in the village of Gorny.
We would like to make a reservation that this list is very incomplete. It includes only those places in Russia that have been identified as of today - June 12, 2001. There will be more to come. So, here are the places where mustard gas, lewisite and other military chemicals were buried
AGINSKY BURYAT AUTONOMOUS DISTRICT.
Passage 71. Warehouse No. 152 of artillery weapons of the ZabVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Yeah. District artillery range of ZabVO. Military camp.
ALTAI REGION.
Barnaul area. Barnaul artillery range.
Biysk Biysk artillery range.
Slavgorod. Slavgorod artillery range.
AMUR REGION.
Arga. Warehouse No. 32 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Zavitinsk (st.Zavitaya). Warehouse No. 155 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Zavitinsk (st.Zavitaya). Warehouse N 316 aviation weapons OKDVA.
Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Free. Warehouse No. 148 of OKDVA chemical weapons. Storage of chemical weapons.
Tomicchi. Warehouse No. 579 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Urusha. Warehouse No. 154 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Belogorsk. Belogorsk artillery range.
ARHANGELSK REGION.
Arkhangelsk. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Obozerskaya. Chemical weapons warehouse.
ASTRAKHAN REGION.
Astrakhan region. Astrakhan military camp.
Astrakhan region. Astrakhan artillery range.
BASHKIR REPUBLIC.
Alkino. Ufa military camp.
BRYANSK REGION.
Bryansk. Warehouse No. 44 of artillery weapons of the BVO. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Karachev. Warehouse No. 28 of artillery weapons of the BVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Rzhanitsa. Central and district chemical weapons warehouse N 137. Work with chemical weapons. Storage of chemical weapons. Experimental storage of chemical weapons.
Pochep. Chemical weapons warehouse.
BURYATIA.
Taltsy. Warehouse No. 30 of artillery weapons of ZabVO. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
VLADIMIR REGION.
Alexandrov. Warehouse No. 65 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kirzhach. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kovrov. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Moore. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kovrov. Kovrovsky military camp of the Moscow Military District.
Kosterevo. Kosterevsky military camp of the Moscow Military District.
Undol. Undol military camp of the Moscow Military District.
VOLGOGRAD (STALINGRAD) REGION.
Stalingrad. Tsaritsyn artillery weapons warehouse. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Prudboy. Artillery range. Military camp named after Voroshilov.
VOLOGDA REGION.
Sukhona. Vologda (Sukhonsky) artillery weapons warehouse. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kuschuba. Kushchubsky military camp.
VORONEZH REGION.
Voronezh region. Voronezh military camp.
Ikorets. Ikoretsk military camp.
Novokhopersk Novokhopersky military camp.
JEWISH AUTONOMOUS REGION.
Babstovo. Warehouse No. 156 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Babstovo. Warehouse No. 317 of OKDVA aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Birobidzhan. Warehouse No. 31 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition. Burying chemical weapons.
Birobidzhan. Warehouse No. 24 of OKDVA aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Leninsk (Ust-Sungariysk?). Warehouse No. 82 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Babstovo. Babstovsky artillery range.
IVANOVO REGION.
Ivanovo-Voznesensk. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Shuya. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
IRKUTSK REGION.
Irkutsk-Batareynaya. Warehouse No. 41 of artillery weapons of ZabVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Irkutsk-Batareynaya. Warehouse No. 415 of chemical weapons of ZabVO.
Malta. Artillery range (non-standard) and military camp.
KALUGA REGION.
Kaluga. Warehouse No. 66 of artillery weapons of the BVI. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kaluga region. Kaluga military camp.
KARELIAN REPUBLIC.
St. Shueretskaya. Chemical weapons testing.
St. Olonets. Olonets military camp.
KEMEROVSK REGION.
Yurga. District artillery range of the Siberian Military District. District military chemical testing ground. Yurga military camp.
KIROV REGION.
Kirov (Vyatka). Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
St. Maradykovsky. Chemical weapons warehouse. Storage of aviation chemical munitions. Destruction of chemical weapons. Disposal of chemical weapons.
Vishkil, pier. Kotelnichsky military camp.
KOSTROMA REGION.
Buoy. Warehouse No. 50 of artillery and later aviation weapons.
Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition. Works with
chemical weapons. Destruction of chemical weapons.
Kostroma. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kostroma. Military Chemical School. Work with chemical weapons.
Kostroma region. Kostroma military camp.
KRASNOYARSK REGION.
Krasnoyarsk region. Artillery range.
Krasnoyarsk Aviation training ground. Work with chemical weapons. Storage of chemical weapons.
KURGAN REGION.
Shchuchye. Warehouse No. 621. Storage of rocket and artillery chemical ammunition. Destruction of chemical weapons.
KURSK REGION.
Kursk Warehouse No. 48 of artillery weapons (then warehouse 311). Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
St. Cranberry. Kursk military camp.
LENINGRAD REGION.
Gatchina. Branch of the military chemical warehouse of the Leningrad Military District of District 302 in the area of the village. Ontolovo. Storage of chemical weapons. Experimental storage of chemical weapons.
Koporye. Stock. Storage of aviation chemical weapons.
Levashovo. Warehouse No. 379 of artillery weapons of the LVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition and toxic substances.
Bear camp. Warehouse No. 70 of artillery weapons of the LVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Tolmachevo. Warehouse No. 380 of artillery weapons of the LVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Children's village. Children's Village aviation camp gathering.
Lebyazhye. Lebyazhsky military camp.
Levashovo. Levashovsky military camp.
Meadows. Artillery range. Military chemical test site.
Meadows. Luga military camp.
Siverskaya. Siversky aviation military training.
Toksovo. Novo-Toksovsky military camp.
Toksovo. Staro-Toksovsky military camp.
LIPETSK REGION.
Dace. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Lipetsk region. Lipetsk military camp.
MOSCOW.
Kuzminki. Military chemical testing ground (1918-1961). Chemical weapons testing. Storing large stockpiles of chemical weapons. Ammunition bottling. Destruction of chemical weapons. Disposal of chemical weapons. Disposal of chemical weapons production waste.
Ochakovo. Central military chemical warehouse? 136. Storage of chemical weapons. Chemical munitions spill. Disposal of chemical weapons.
Destruction of chemical weapons.
Losinoostrovskaya. Raevsky warehouse No. 36 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Sokolniki. Warehouse of military chemical equipment (Gautier warehouse).
Lefortovo. Moscow artillery warehouse. Storage and equipment of artillery chemical shells.
Kuntsevo. Kuntsevo military camp.
Lyublino. Lublin military camp.
Novogireevo. Novogireevsky military camp.
Khodynskoe field. October military camp.
MOSCOW REGION.
Bunkovo. Chemical weapons testing.
Nakhabino. Engineering site. Chemical weapons testing.
Mozhaisk Warehouse No. 67 of artillery weapons of the Moscow Military District. Storage of artillery, aviation chemical ammunition and chemical agents.
Nakhabino. Warehouse No. 38 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Sands. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Serpukhov. Warehouse No. 45 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Sofrino. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kashira. Kashira military camp.
Kolomna (Golutvin). Golutvinsky military camp.
Cuban. Cuban military camp.
Monino. Moninsky military camp.
Mytishchi. Mytishchi military camp.
Narofominsk. Narofominsk military camp.
Nakhabino. Nakhabinsky military camp.
Solnechnogorsk (Podsolnechnaya). Senezh military camp.
Serpukhov. Serpukhov military camp.
MORDOVIA REPUBLIC.
Saransk (Krasny Uzel station). Timiryazevsky warehouse No. 62 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
MURMANSK REGION.
Pechenga. Work with chemical weapons.
NIZHNY NOVGOROD REGION.
Ilyino. Warehouse No. 405 of chemical weapons of the Moscow Military District.
Seimas (city of Volodarsk). Warehouse No. 53 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Ilyino, Frolishchi. Gorokhovets military camps.
Sejm. Seymovsky military camp.
Frolishchi. Military chemical training ground of the Military Chemical Academy. Work with chemical weapons. Chemical weapons testing.
NOVGOROD REGION.
Kotovo. Warehouse No. 46 of artillery weapons of the Leningrad Military District. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
NOVOSIBIRSK REGION.
Berdsk. Chemical weapons warehouse N 626 Siberian Military District.
OMSK REGION.
Omsk-Moskovka. Warehouse No. 25 of chemical weapons of the Siberian Military District. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition. Storage of chemical weapons.
Omsk-Moskovka. Warehouse No. 11 Siberian Military District. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Omsk region. Omsk artillery range.
ORENBURG REGION.
Orenburg region. 1st Orenburg military camp.
ORYOL REGION.
Eagle. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
PENZA REGION.
Village Leonidovka. Warehouse No. 76. Storage of aviation chemical weapons. Destruction of chemical weapons. Disposal of chemical weapons.
Selixa. Penza military camp (Selix camp).
PERM REGION.
Kungur. Warehouse No. 621 of artillery weapons of the Ural Military District. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Permian. Warehouse No. 59 of artillery weapons of the PriVO and UrVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Bershet (station South). Bershet military camp.
PRIMORSKY KRAI.
Blagodatnoe. Warehouse No. 77 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Vozdvizhensky. Warehouse No. 301 of OKDVA chemical weapons. Storage of chemical weapons.
Knorring. Warehouse No. 300 of chemical weapons of the Pacific Fleet.
Knorring. Warehouse No. 73 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Partisan. Warehouse No. 135 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Partisan. Warehouse No. 315 of OKDVA aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Razdolnoe. Warehouse No. 85 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Razdolnoe. Warehouse No. 319 of OKDVA aviation weapons. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Retikhovka. Warehouse No. 493 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Spassk-Dalny. Warehouse No. 252 of OKDVA aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Sungach. Warehouse No. 150 of OKDVA chemical weapons. Storage of chemical weapons. Experimental storage of chemical weapons.
Sungach. Warehouse No. 23 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Sysoevka. Warehouse No. 583 OKDVA ammunition. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Ussuriysk Warehouse No. 47 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Chalcedon. Warehouse No. 159 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Chernyshevka. Warehouse N?? OKDVA ammunition. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Baranovsky. Baranovsky artillery range. Baranovsky military camp.
Bamburovo. Sidemi military camp.
Grodekovo (Borderline). Grodekovsky artillery range.
Razdolnoe. Military chemical testing ground OKDVA. Work with chemical weapons.
PSKOV REGION.
Velikie Luki. Warehouse No. 1467 of artillery weapons of KalVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Tumors. Warehouse No. 615 of artillery weapons of KalVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Pskov region. Pskov military camp.
The plows are red. Velensky military chemical and artillery training ground of the Leningrad Military District (20 km from Strugi Krasnye station). Camp chemical parts. Military exercises with chemical weapons. Storage of chemical weapons.
ROSTOV REGION.
Novocherkassk. Warehouse No. 21 of artillery weapons of the North Caucasus Military District. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Novocherkassk. Warehouse No. 10 of aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Novocherkassk. Warehouse No. 692 of chemical weapons of the North Caucasus Military District. Storage of chemical agents and aviation chemical munitions.
Rostov. Warehouse No. 61 of artillery weapons of the North Caucasus Military District. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Belaya Kalitva. Artillery range. Military camp.
RYAZAN OBLAST.
Ryazan. Warehouse No. 35 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Shilovo. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Miracle. Seletsky military camp.
Ryazan region. Ryazan military camp.
SAINT PETERSBURG.
St. Petersburg. Warehouse No. 75 of artillery weapons of the LVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
St. Petersburg. Warehouse No. 54 of artillery weapons of the LVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition. Storing barrels of mustard gas.
SAMARA REGION.
Samara. Warehouse No. 26 of artillery weapons of the Military District. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition. Storage of toxic substances.
Sizran. Warehouse No. 22 of artillery weapons of the Military District. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Sizran. Warehouse No. 8 of aviation weapons of the Military District. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Chapaevsk (Pokrovka). Tomylovsky artillery weapons warehouse, later NKO warehouse No. 433). Storage of chemical ammunition and chemical agents. Work with chemical weapons. Destruction of chemical weapons. Disposal of chemical weapons.
Art. Totskoye. Military camp named after S.S. Kamenev (artillery, aviation). Work with chemical weapons.
SARATOV REGION.
Mountain. Chemical weapons warehouse. Storage of chemical weapons. Experimental storage of chemical weapons. Destruction of chemical weapons.
Shihany. Chemical weapons warehouse N 303. Storage of chemical weapons. Experimental storage of chemical weapons. Work with chemical weapons.
Shihany. Military chemical test site. Work with chemical weapons. Pouring agent into ammunition. Destruction of chemical weapons. Disposal of chemical weapons. Disposal of chemical weapons production waste.
Shihany. Military Institute of Chemical Weapons 33 Central Research Institute. Work with chemical weapons. Chemical weapons testing. Experiments with OB on humans.
Shihany. Civic Institute chemical weapons GITOS. Work with chemical weapons. Development of chemical weapons. Production of chemical weapons.
Saratov. Military Chemical School. Work with chemical weapons.
Elkhovka. 3rd Tatishchevsky military camp. Work with chemical weapons.
Robbery. 2nd Tatishchevsky military camp. Work with chemical weapons. Saratov district. Saratov district artillery range and military camp of artillery units. Firing chemical shells.
Tatishchevo. 1st Tatishchevsky military camp.
SVERDLOVSK REGION.
Revda. Warehouse No. 691 of chemical weapons of the Ural Military District.
Elansky. Kamyshlovsky military camp.
SMOLENSK REGION.
Vyazma. Warehouse No. 119 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Smolensk Warehouse No. 9 of aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Understanding. Warehouse No. 310 of aviation weapons of the BVI. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Dorogobuzh. Corps artillery range ZapOVO.
TAMBOV REGION.
Morshansk. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Tambov. Warehouse No. 35 of artillery chemical ammunition.
Tambov. Military Chemical School. Work with chemical weapons.
Glad. Radinsky military camp.
Tambov district. Tambov military camp.
TATAR REPUBLIC.
Kazan. Warehouse No. 43 of artillery weapons of the Military District. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kazan region. 1st Kazan military camp.
Kazan region. 2nd Kazan military camp.
TVER REGION.
Likhoslavl. Artillery chemical ammunition warehouse.
Kuzhenkino. Warehouse No. 39 LVO and KalVO. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Monchalovo. Warehouse No. 35 of artillery weapons of the LVO and KalVO. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Rzhev. Warehouse No. 40 of artillery weapons of the LVO and KalVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Tver. Central military chemical warehouse N 138.
Tver. Military chemical school with a military chemical training ground. Work with chemical weapons. Field work with OWLs.
Tver region. Kalinin military camp.
TULA REGION.
Tula. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Tula region. Karzhavinsky military camp.
Tula region. Tula military camp.
UDMURT REPUBLIC.
Glazov. Artillery weapons depot. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Kambarka. Chemical weapons warehouse. Work with chemical weapons. Destruction of chemical weapons. Disposal of chemical weapons.
Kizner. Chemical weapons warehouse. Storage of rocket and artillery chemical weapons.
ULYANOVSK REGION.
Swallow. Warehouse No. 738 of artillery weapons of the Military District. Storage
artillery chemical ammunition.
KHABAROVSK REGION.
Malmyzh. Warehouse No. 157 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Malmyzh. Warehouse No. 318 of OKDVA aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Obor. Warehouse No. 68 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Obor. Warehouse No. 21 of OKDVA aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Khabarovsk-Krasnaya Rechka. Warehouse No. 74 of OKDVA artillery weapons. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Khabarovsk-Krasnaya Rechka. Warehouse No. 6 of OKDVA aviation weapons. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Khabarovsk-Krasnaya Rechka. Warehouse No. 140 of chemical weapons OKDVA and ZabVO. Experimental storage of chemical weapons.
Prince Volkonsky. Prince-Volkonsky anti-aircraft artillery range.
Prince Volkonsky military camp.
CHELYABINSK REGION.
Chelyabinsk. Warehouse No. 58 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Chebarkul. Chebarkul military camp. Artillery range of the Urals Military District. Summer camps. Work with chemical weapons.
CHITA REGION.
Borzya. Transbaikal fortified area. Military chemical test site. Storage of chemical weapons.
Byrka. Warehouse No. 153 of artillery weapons of ZabVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Byrka. Warehouse No. 313 of aviation weapons of ZabVO. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Lesnaya. Warehouse No. 57 of artillery weapons of ZabVO. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition.
Lesnaya. Warehouse No. 147 of chemical weapons of ZabVO. Storage of chemical weapons. Experimental storage of chemical weapons.
Nerchinsk. Warehouse No. 86 of artillery weapons of ZabVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Nerchinsk. Warehouse No. 14 of aviation equipment and weapons of ZabVO. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Petrovsky plant (Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky). Warehouse No. 151 of aviation weapons of ZabVO. Storage of aviation chemical munitions.
Solovyovsk. Warehouse No. 977 of artillery weapons of ZabVO. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Chita-II. Warehouse No. 139 of chemical weapons of ZabVO.
Khadabulak. Artillery range (non-standard). Chita-II. Warehouse No. 139 of chemical weapons of ZabVO.
Sherlovaya (passage no. 79). Artillery weapons warehouse ZabVO N 109. Storage of artillery and aviation chemical ammunition. Storage of chemical weapons.
Dauria. Artillery range (non-standard).
Haranor. Artillery range (non-standard).
Khadabulak. Artillery range (non-standard).
Chita-II. District anti-aircraft artillery range of ZabVO.
Yasnogorsk-Zabaikalsky, Yasnaya station (used crossing points N 73-74). District military chemical and aviation chemical testing ground. Military camp.
Yasnaya (used junction N 74). Location of the 33rd Armored (Chemical) Brigade and the 13th Independent Chemical Mortar Battalion. Work with chemical weapons.
YAROSLAVL REGION.
Rostov-Yaroslavsky. Central military chemical warehouse N 141. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Rybinsk. Warehouse No. 34 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Yaroslavl. Warehouse No. 71 of artillery weapons. Storage of artillery chemical ammunition.
Filino. Filinsky military camp.
The chemical weapons lurking at the bottom of the Baltic are more than enough to poison the whole of Europe
N At the bottom of the Baltic Sea lie 267 thousand tons of bombs, shells and mines, sunk after the end of World War II. And they contain more than 50 thousand tons of chemical warfare agents. For more than half a century, ammunition filled with deadly poison lies at the bottom of the Baltic. Posing a potential lethal threat. After all, the metal in sea water rust is corroding, and the poison threatens to break out. Turning the Baltic into a sea of death... However, the problem is even more serious. Burials of chemical weapons, although on a smaller scale, exist not only there. The British dumped their poison into the North Sea, the Soviet Union into the Barents Sea. And if we talk about the long-suffering Baltic, then, in addition to chemical weapons, there are also about six dozen toxic dumps industrial waste. No one in the world knows what to do with these poison deposits. Until now, the matter is limited only to observation. Although everyone understands that this cannot continue indefinitely. Recently this topic interested deputies of the Russian State Duma. Last Friday in Okhotny Ryad, at a joint meeting of the committees on ecology and international affairs, hearings were held regarding chemical weapons sunk in the Baltic Sea. However, much earlier than the deputies, environmentalists began to worry about all this. Including those from St. Petersburg.
Deputies remembered
Anatoly Efremov is one of those who has been involved in the Baltic for several years. He is a co-founder of the Eco-Balt organization. Before that, he worked for ten years as the director of a large military-industrial complex enterprise, NPO Vibrator (until dramatic changes in the form of ownership occurred there in 1998). And even earlier he was the director of one of the shipbuilding factories - so he knows the maritime specifics and marine technology firsthand. For the time being, no one was particularly interested in his work on the topic of chemical weapons sunk in the Baltic. The situation changed when deputies became interested in the problem.
- They invited me, talked to me and said: “Write a report urgently. You will go to an international conference in Poland,” says Anatoly Efremov. – The North-West Interregional Parliamentary Center sent me there. On April 25-27, the International Fair of Innovation, New Technologies and economic integration. And there I will read a report with my proposals for cleaning the Baltic Sea from the chemical weapons sunk in it.
Story
The history of the issue is as follows. After the end of World War II, the Allies discovered huge stockpiles of chemical weapons in occupied German territory. These were aerial bombs, shells and mines filled with mustard gas, phosgene, tabun, clarke, adamsite, lewisite, arsine oil and similar “delights”. The time was alarming, many Nazi criminals were still at large, and the Allies believed that sabotage on their part was quite possible - undermining part of the deadly arsenal. Therefore, at the Potsdam Peace Conference, it was decided to destroy all captured chemical weapons. A small part of it was disposed of at German chemical plants, some was burned, and most of it was flooded during 1946–1948. At the same time, German warships were used as burial grounds - they were loaded to capacity with ammunition with toxic substances and then sunk to the bottom.
They were going to drown them not in the shallow Baltic, located in the very center of Europe, but in the deep Atlantic Ocean. Most of chemical weapons were loaded by the Americans onto 42 Wehrmacht ships, and the caravan went to the North Sea. But a severe storm interfered. And almost all the ships had to be sunk in the Skagerrak Strait, connecting the Baltic with the Atlantic, not far from the Norwegian coast.
The British also had a hand in the Baltic burials, flooding some of the poison in the area of the Danish island of Bornholm. The GDR authorities also contributed.
Naturally, the USSR also played an active role. Unlike its allies, the Land of Soviets decided not to scuttle the captured ships, to keep them for itself, and the toxic substances were thrown into the sea just like that. As a result, if the burial sites of chemical weapons by the Allies are at least known, the secret of the burial of 35 thousand tons of chemical weapons, scuttled Soviet Union, hidden by the silent waters of the Baltic.
Under the water
But water does not hide the poison particularly reliably. Deadly burial grounds are located at a depth of only 70-120 meters (where can there be more in the Baltic?). At the same time, according to military experts, the rate of through corrosion of aerial bomb casings can vary from 13 to 80 years, for artillery shells and mines - 22 to 150 years.
If we count on average, then, as we see, the extreme line is already close. And in some cases it even passed. According to experts, about four thousand tons of mustard gas have already entered sea water and bottom sediments. There are more than a hundred cases where fishermen who were removing trawls from the bottom received chemical burns. After this, they were provided with maps indicating areas where fishing is prohibited.
But cards, of course, do not solve the problem. But no one in the world knows how to actually solve it. The first global difficulty that developers of possible projects to neutralize chemical weapons at the bottom of the Baltic stumble upon is money. According to some estimates, such work could cost a tidy sum - up to $5 billion. Who will give this money? Some people think that Germany should do this, because the poison is mainly produced by them. Others believe that the Americans should pay - as they are one of the main culprits in the current situation. There are also compromise options: for example, mobilizing the financial resources of the European Union for this.
But the question is not only about money; if everything depended only on them, money would apparently be found. The question is that no one can say definitely: what needs to be done, and what absolutely cannot be done in this case.
Many experts, for example, are confident that it is better not to touch the deadly cargo at all - the results can be unpredictable. And in sea water, hydrolysis processes are actively taking place, and the poisonous gases that leak out are gradually neutralized naturally. Others believe that it is necessary to build burial grounds on the bottom of the sea that will cover toxic dumps - something like a sarcophagus on Chernobyl nuclear power plant. True, the scale and technical complexity of such projects are, of course, much greater.
Sore point
They are dealing with the problem of chemicals flooded in the Baltic
weapons in St. Petersburg. For example, in the Central Design Bureau of Marine Equipment "Rubin" of Igor Spassky. Anatoly Efremov met about this with the deputy chief designer of TsKBMT Nikolai Nosov. But they did not come to an agreement. Rubin believes that nothing can be lifted from the bottom of the sea. Efremov takes a different point of view.
“Eighty percent of all sunk chemical weapons are bombs, shells and mines,” he says. – They have fairly thick-walled metal shells. No one knows what condition they are in; no one has examined them. They may still be strong enough, and therefore they can be lifted - the shallow depth of flooding allows this to be done. On land, toxic substances can be disposed of.
Efremov suggests that what should not be touched should be preserved. But not with the help of concrete sarcophagi, but with the help of a special aquapolymer material - place the ships in polymer “bags”. Everything else that can be lifted from the bottom of the sea without risk, Efremov suggests raising.
For recycling, he proposes to use technology developed at the Russian Scientific Center for Applied Chemistry (formerly the St. Petersburg State Institute of Chemical Chemistry). He proposes to build a special plant for this. According to his considerations, this could be done on the deserted island of Moshchny in the western part of the Gulf of Finland, 30 kilometers from the coast - in the Luga Bay area. However, how will the public react to the fact that in addition to those imported into Russia nuclear waste It is not difficult to predict that it will also be possible to drag chemical weapons into the Gulf of Finland.
Efremov has answers to these questions too.
“Existing technologies make it possible to carry out such work practically safely,” he says. – In addition, please note that today such chemical plants are being built in Russia at a distance of only a few kilometers from densely populated areas. And here we are talking about an island that is located 30 kilometers from the coast. And I propose to carry out all the work there not in an atmosphere of strict secrecy, but under the constant supervision of all ecologists in Europe.
The only thing that, according to Anatoly Efremov, cannot be done under any circumstances is to leave everything as it is. Or brush off solving the problem under the pretext that the situation off the coast of Sweden does not concern us.
“You can’t sit on the sidelines,” he says. - We must not forget about the millions of Russians living on the Baltic coast. This applies to everyone.
Nikolay DONSKOV, St. Petersburg
The past generation left the modern population of the planet with a dangerous legacy of the Second World War - the chemical weapons of the Wehrmacht, sunk by the occupying forces in the Baltic Sea, as well as in the Skagerrak and Kattegat straits, which represents a huge environmental threat for the peoples of Western, Northern and of Eastern Europe. All information about the sinking of these chemical weapons in Moscow, London and Washington was carefully hidden until recently. After the surrender fascist Germany At the Potsdam Conference, it was decided to destroy all stockpiles of chemical weapons. The Wehrmacht chemical troops were armed with aerial bombs, shells and mines of various calibers, as well as chemical landmines, hand grenades and bombs of toxic smoke. Besides german army was well equipped with special machines for quickly contaminating the area with persistent toxic substances. Germany's military arsenals accumulated large stocks of chemical munitions filled with mustard gas, lewisite, adamite, phosgene and diphosgene. In addition, German chemical industry during the war years she mastered significant quantities production of tabun (ethyl ester of cyanophosphoric acid dimethyl amide, a nerve agent) and sarin (isopropyl ester of methylphosphoric acid fluoride, a nerve agent).
By the end of the war, the production of soman (pinacoline ester of methylphosphoric acid fluoride, a nerve agent) was also established. According to available data, chemical weapons discovered in West Germany were sunk by American and British occupation forces in four coastal areas Western Europe. In the Norwegian deep waters near Arendal; in the Skagerrak near the Swedish port of Lysekil; between the Danish island of Funen and the mainland; near Skagen, extreme northern point Denmark. In total, in six areas of European waters on seabed There are 302,875 tons of toxic substances or approximately 1/5 of the total stock of toxic substances. In addition, at least 120 thousand tons of chemical weapons were sunk in unidentified places in the Atlantic Ocean and in the western part of the English Channel, and at least 25 thousand tons were exported to the USSR. Foreign sources claim that many chemicals were dumped by the Germans during the war and in the Baltic Sea itself. And the Soviet military archives contain detailed information about what was discovered in the chemical arsenals of East Germany and sunk in the Baltic Sea 71,469 250 kg of aerial bombs filled with mustard gas - 14,258 250 kg and 500 kg of aerial bombs filled with chloroacetophene, diphenylchlorarsine and arsine oil and 50 kg of aerial bombs filled with adamite - 408,565 artillery shells of 75 mm, 105 mm and 150 mm caliber, filled with mustard gas - 34592 chemical mines of 20 kg and 50 kg, filled with mustard gas - 10420 smoke chemical mines of 100 mm caliber - 1004 technological tanks containing 1506 tons of mustard gas. - 8429 barrels, in which there were 1030 tons of adamsite and diphenylchlorarsine, - 169 tons of technological containers with toxic substances, which contained cyanide salt, chloroarsine, cyanarsine and axelarsine, 7860 cans of cyclone, which the Nazis widely used in 300 death camps for mass destruction prisoners in gas chambers.
The Baltic Sea contains great amount sunken chemical weapons, which pose a great threat to the organisms that live in it and to the peoples of Western, Northern and Eastern Europe.
9 .3 The chemical mustard gas and its role in the ecology of the Baltic Sea
As mentioned above, a large number of toxic chemicals were buried in the Baltic Sea and adjacent waters. One of the most dangerous chemical substances is mustard gas or mustard gas. Mustard gas is a yellow-brown substance with a specific odor of garlic, horseradish and mustard plants. At normal temperatures a rather viscous substance that decomposes poorly in water and does well in fat, any oily environment, on the skin. First used by the German Army in September 1917, the mass production process was created for the war in German company Bayer AG by Lommel and Steinkopf. Mustard gas was in the form of an aerosol, mixed with other chemicals, which gave it a yellowish-brown color and a specific smell. Structural formula mustard gas is expressed as follows: in, in "- dichlorodiethyl sulfide. Gas masks were not effective against mustard gas, as it has the property of penetrating toxic chemicals used during the war. Its properties are so caustic that when added in small quantities to the ground, its effect lasted for several weeks. Mustard gas causes internal and external bleeding, severely affects the bronchi, lungs and mucous membrane of the eye. Its effect is very painful: a person can lose vision. Those poisoned with mustard gas remain chained to the bed, it is difficult for them to inhale and exhale air, as mustard gas paralyzes respiratory system person. Usually a person dies within 4-5 weeks after mustard gas poisoning.
Exist different kinds mustard gas:: H, HD, HT, HL, HQ they differ depending on the oxygen concentration and the degree of purity. It can be synthesized by reacting sulfur dichloride with two moles of ethylene. “Chemically, it is an aliphatic thioether.” Its structure can be described as 1,1-thio-bi-(2-chloroethane) or 2,2"-dichlorodiethyl sulfide or bi-(2-chloroethyl)-sulfide. The melting point of mustard gas is 140 °C and decomposes at a boiling point of 2180 °C. Mustard gas tends to remain in the environment for a long time and provoke various diseases. If mustard gas affected the clothing or equipment of one soldier, then others who came into contact with it or touched it also became poisoned.
Towards the end of the war, mustard gas was used in strong concentrations as a weapon to "cleanse" areas that forced soldiers to give up their positions due to the strong lethal effect on human health. Most of all mustard gas was used by Germany during cold war. It was sunk in the Baltic Sea. From 1966 to 2002, fishermen found about seven hundred chemical weapons near Bornholm, most of which were mustard gas bombs. When mustard gas hit water, it formed into a resin-like gel and remained active for five years. It was easy to confuse a piece of polymerized mustard gas with amber, which could lead to common health problems. Shells containing mustard gas and others toxic substances, left over from the First World War (as well as other explosives already known) can still be found in the territories of France and Belgium. Previously, they were destroyed by exploding in the waters of nearby seas, but due to violations of the ecology of the environment and water, this was prohibited and the French government was forced to build automated factories for the destruction and processing of deposits of these shells.
In 1972, the United States Congress banned the practice of releasing chemical weapons into the ocean. Sixty-four million pounds of mustard gas was released into the ocean by the US Army. In 1998, William Brankowitz wrote a report that the US Army had invented at least 26 chemical weapons that were later thrown into the ocean.
The ecological situation of the Baltic Sea is really in danger and humanity must develop ways and means of counteracting substances that destroy not only the Baltic ecosystem, but also world ecology. The ecology of the Baltic is only one link in the global ecological chain, since everything in the world is interconnected
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