Elimination of environmental damage 1991 – present

Huge illegal dumps were created in the vicinity of Milovice, which caused, for example, an overpopulation of rodents,

One of the negative effects of the Soviet troops‘ stay in Czechoslovakia was the constant pollution of the environment around the Soviet garrisons. The most serious ecological damage included the contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products, the creation of illegal dumps and the discharge of sewage into waterways. These problems were unsuccessfully addressed throughout the entire period of the Soviet army’s stay in our country.

Despite the fact that the Czechoslovak Party built a waste incinerator, the Soviets refused to use it and continued to export garbage into the surrounding nature.

A paradoxical situation arose when the Czechoslovak People’s Army was responsible for the lands and buildings used by the Central Group of Soviet troops, but the Czechoslovak authorities had no authority or possibility to demand redress from the Soviet side. In 1991, the Federal Ministry of Control of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSFR) calculated that the Soviet Army had caused ecological damage in Czechoslovakia in the amount of 3.5 billion CSK, with Milovice accounting for one third of this amount.

The Soviets often buried fuel tanks without any insulation.

In the early 1970s, the Soviet army built an illegal facility at the Čachovice railway station for pumping aviation fuel from train tanks. The facility was connected to an underground pipeline, about five kilometres long, leading through the forest to the Boží Dar airport. The soil around the pipeline was contaminated, as was the entire airport. It was the largest source of pollution at the Mladá VVP, but not the only one.

After the departure of the Soviet army, some of the objects were looted for building materials.

The soil was cleaned of oil products using many wells into which water was pumped under pressure. The water was then drained, cleaned, and the whole process was repeated until 2008. The entire former military area also had to be cleared of ammunition. Pyrotechnic works were carried out in Milovice until 2001.

In 2014, abandoned buildings in the Boží Dar housing estate were demolished.

Did you know that…? On April 1^st, 1992, the governments of the Czechoslovak Socialist Federal Republic and the Russian Federation agreed to forgive the debt of 14 billion CSK for environmental and property damage caused by the Soviet army.