About 300 people and more than 90 units of equipment will take part in the active phase of the Belarusian-Russian exercises of the Ministry of Emergency Situations

July 26, Orsha District / Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. About 300 people, over 90 units of equipment, and 4 aircraft will be involved today in the active phase of joint Belarusian-Russian tactical special exercises of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the press secretary of the Vitebsk Regional Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Marina Fando, told a BELTA correspondent. The exercises on eliminating cross-border emergencies related to accidents at main oil and gas pipelines will be held in three stages at three training sites in the Smolensk and Vitebsk regions, with sequential practice of notification, bringing management bodies, forces, and resources of the warning and emergency response systems of Russia and Belarus to readiness, assessing the situation in the emergency zone, making decisions on its elimination, managing the forces and resources of the warning and emergency response systems, and interacting during emergency rescue operations of the management bodies of the warning and emergency response systems of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. According to the tactical plan of the exercises, as a result of ground subsidence at kilometer 253 in the area of the underwater crossing of the Unecha - Andreapol - Ust-Luga oil pipeline across the Dnieper River in the Smolensk region, near the village of Boroviki, the oil pipeline was damaged, with oil leaking into the Dnieper River and spreading to the territory of Belarus along the river. This creates a threat of a cross-border man-made emergency. According to the operational scenario, in three days the oil slick will reach the border of the settlement of Zubovo in the Orsha district of the Vitebsk region. Simultaneously, during emergency work on the Unecha-Ventspils oil pipeline of JSC "Polotsktransneft Druzhba" near the village of Zubovo in the Orsha district, an oil fire occurred, spreading to the forest, creating a threat to settlements. At the first stage, which will begin near the village of Boroviki in the Smolensk region, training issues of notifying management bodies and forces according to the current interaction plan, bringing the management bodies and forces of the territorial subsystem of the Russian Federation's Unified State System for the Prevention and Elimination of Emergencies to readiness, and making decisions on eliminating the consequences of the emergency will be practiced. At the second stage, starting near the village of Zubovo in the Orsha district, it is planned to practice training issues of management bodies' work on collecting and analyzing situational data, refining decisions on eliminating the man-made emergency, and managing forces and resources in extinguishing a forest fire when there is a threat to settlements. Here, methods and techniques for carrying out emergency work by the units of the emergency recovery team to restore the damaged section of the oil pipeline in swampy conditions will also be practiced, including laying a plank road, installing a dewatering system, as well as complex underwater work to repair the riverbed part of the underwater pipeline crossing with the involvement of divers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus. At the third stage, the vicinity of the settlement of Kopys in the Orsha district will serve as the venue, where training issues of management bodies' work on collecting and analyzing situational data, refining decisions on eliminating the emergency, and managing forces and resources for collecting oil from the water surface will be consolidated in practice. At this same venue, a medical hospital of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus, a mobile communication hub of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, as well as diving and rescue services of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus and the Russian Federation, and units of the Vitebsk branch of the Red Cross will be deployed. During the elimination of the training emergency, environmental monitoring will be carried out. International observers will monitor the progress of the exercises. At the end of the exercises, a demonstration of equipment and emergency rescue equipment of the units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus and Russia, economic entities, and emergency recovery units will be held. -0-