Russian sapper units destroyed over 25,000 explosive devices in the course of a mine-clearing operation of the Syrian city of Aleppo, Deputy Commander of Russian Engineering Troops Ruslan Allakhverdiyev said on Saturday.
"Over 2,000 hectares [4,942 acres], 680 kilometers [422,5 miles] of roads, 3,500 different objects [in Aleppo] have been cleared with 25,000 explosive devices destroyed, with over a half of them being improvised explosives," Allakhverdiyev said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station.
The Deputy Commander added that the mine-clearing operation in Palmyra was carried out in short time and with no staff casualties, while as a result over 825 hectares were cleared and over 18,000 of explosives were destroyed.
On Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, the chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate, said that Russian sapper units had cleared over 2,000 hectares in Syrian Aleppo, demined over 200 of social facilities, allowing tens of thousands of residents to return to their homes in the eastern neighborhoods of the city.
SPUTNIK/MNA