You're reading: Ukrainian minister urges OSCE SMM to check radiation background in Donetsk over possible containment site breach

Ecology and Natural Resources Minister of Ukraine Ihor Shevchenko has urged OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) observers to check the radiation background in Donetsk Oblast.

The press service of the ministry said there was a huge explosion at a state-owned chemical products plant in Donetsk Oblast on June 16. The explosion was caused by the detonation of an underground storehouse filled with ammunition, which might have breached the containment of a radioactive waste burial site located between the town of Pisky and Zhovtneva mine.

“The state of the burial site with radioactive waste under the supervision of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine near Donetsk raises alarm, as Ukraine can’t check the radiation background at the moment, which might lead to grave ecological consequences. That’s why we demand that OSCE SMM representatives measure the radiation background in the district,” Shevchenko said.

As reported, on June 20, Andriy Taran, the Ukrainian representative in the Joint Coordination Center for Ceasefire Monitoring (JCCCM), said the state of the burial site was causing alarm, and Ukraine would be grateful if OSCE SMM representatives would monitor the radiation background in the Oblast controlled by the militants, and take other steps to eliminate the danger in the Oblast.