Federal Directorate for Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons – 30th Anniversary

Abstract

The Russian Federation has ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, and thereby reaffirmed its international obligations assumed in the field of chemical disarmament. To solve the problem of the destruction of chemical weapons, given its complexity and versatility, the Presidential Federal Target Program «Destruction of stockpiles of chemical weapons in the Russian Federation» was developed. This article is dedicated to the history of the formation of a unique structure – the Federal Office for the Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons and the formation of a team of its specialists who directly performed the difficult task of destroying chemical weapons. September 27, 2017 at the facility for the destruction of chemical weapons in the village Kizner of the Udmurt Republic, in a special ceremony, the last chemical munition was destroyed. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has recorded the fact of the complete destruction of chemical weapons in the Russian Federation with the relevant certificates. The program for the destruction of chemical weapons was completed 3 years ahead of schedule, with savings of 9.6 billion rubles. The main results of the completed process of destruction of chemical weapons are that no human life has been lost and no damage has been done to the environment. Currently, the Federal Directorate is implementing measures within the framework of the departmental project «Liquidation of the consequences of the activities of storage facilities and facilities for the destruction of chemical weapons in the Russian Federation» of the state program of the Russian Federation «Development of industry and increasing its competitiveness»