More than 900 WWII artillery shells found in Moscow. © RIA Novosti. Anton Denissov
German Artillery Again Threatens Moscow -- Strategy Page
May 25, 2013: The post-Cold War prosperity did not hit Russia until the last decade and now there’s quite a building boom going on all over the country. In cities that were subject to a lot of fighting during World War II this is causing problems. For example, on May 8th construction workers preparing the foundation for a high-rise building in Moscow came across two unexploded artillery shells from World War II. Bomb disposal teams were brought in to safely remove the shells, one of which still had a fuze attached.
This area (northwest Moscow) briefly came under German artillery fire in late 1941 and enemy shells are not the only problem. Russia was prepared for a fight and two years ago another construction crew found evidence of that as they uncovered an ammo storage bunker buried by a German bombing attack. This bunker contained several hundred Russian 76mm and 152mm artillery shells. The bomb disposal teams were busy for quite a while excavating and safely disposing of all that.
Read more ....
My Comment: I am all to familiar with this problem. About a decade ago I was visiting my cousins in St. Petersburg, and all the talk around the table revolved around an unexploded ordinance that was found on the property where they were building a new home for my uncle and his wife. The shell was removed .... bu
This area (northwest Moscow) briefly came under German artillery fire in late 1941 and enemy shells are not the only problem. Russia was prepared for a fight and two years ago another construction crew found evidence of that as they uncovered an ammo storage bunker buried by a German bombing attack. This bunker contained several hundred Russian 76mm and 152mm artillery shells. The bomb disposal teams were busy for quite a while excavating and safely disposing of all that.
Read more ....
My Comment: I am all to familiar with this problem. About a decade ago I was visiting my cousins in St. Petersburg, and all the talk around the table revolved around an unexploded ordinance that was found on the property where they were building a new home for my uncle and his wife. The shell was removed .... but not after a delay .... evacuation .... etc.. And recently .... another cousin who lives in the Ukraine mentioned to me that his biggest worry on the job (he owns a construction company) are accidents and unexploded ordinances. I suspect that this is a problem that is going to be with Russia/eastern Europe for the next century (if not more).
Update: Here is the story on the bunker that was found with 900 shells.
Read more ....
My Comment: I am all to familiar with this problem. About a decade ago I was visiting my cousins in St. Petersburg, and all the talk around the table revolved around an unexploded ordinance that was found on the property where they were building a new home for my uncle and his wife. The shell was removed .... but not after a delay .... evacuation .... etc.. And recently .... another cousin who lives in the Ukraine mentioned to me that his biggest worry on the job (he owns a construction company) are accidents and unexploded ordinances. I suspect that this is a problem that is going to be with Russia/eastern Europe for the next century (if not more).
Update: Here is the story on the bunker that was found with 900 shells.