The police were alerted by members of a military and historical society, "Fort Krasnaya Gorka", which is involved in researching World War II fights in the St Petersburg area.
A field of anti-tank mines from the Second World War was discovered in Russia next to a highway leading to the Sossnovi Bor nuclear power plant, near St. Petersburg, northwest, sources said Monday. concordant.
"Information on mines discovered near the town of Lebiajie was received on November 11," said police in the region, which did not give further details. The minefield is located 20 kilometers from the Sossnovi Bor power station.
"This forgotten minefield, about ten meters from the A121 federal highway, was discovered by a resident who informed us about it," said Andrei Sizov, the leader of Fort Krasnaya Gorka, a military company. and history which deals in particular to make researches on fights of the Second World War in the Leningrad region - today Saint-Petersburg.
A field installed in 1941 to counter the advance of the Germans
This field was installed in August 1941 by Soviet sailors, at a time when the advance of German troops threatened the city of Leningrad. According to Sizov, they had converted 46-kilogram shells into anti-tank mines and staggered them 120 meters along the road.
" It's very dangerous. If one of these old mines explodes, the others will explode right away, " said Sizov, adding that fifteen of these mines have already been unearthed and are being defused.
Leningrad and its region were the scene of extremely fierce fighting between the Red Army and the Nazis between 1941 and 1944 and the mines and shells of the Second World War not yet discovered are still numerous.