MOSCOW (AP) -- Environmental and human rights
activists criticized the
implementation of Russia's chemical disarmament
program Tuesday, accusing
authorities of mismanaging funds and endangering lives
by skimping on safety
and security measures.
Sergei Mitrokhin, a former Yabloko deputy, said
Russian legislation does not
adequately provide for chemical disarmament by
international standards, and
an activist said authorities violate the laws that do
exist.
"The entire state machine is deliberately violating
all possible laws,
regulations and procedures for disposing of chemical
weapons," Lev Fyodorov,
head of an environmental group called For Chemical
Safety, told a news
conference.
Maxim Shingarkin, an activist with the Citizen
Foundation, said that some 50
million rubles ($1.8 million) was spent to build an
unpaved road to a
chemical weapons disposal facility in the Saratov
region, while people
nearby have not been provided with gas masks.
See also:
Yabloko for Environmental Safety
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