A few days after allowing Ukraine to use longer-range American missiles—Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMs)—to launch strikes deeper into Russia, the US has announced its decision to provide Kyiv anti-personnel mines to help it slow the battlefield advances of Russia.
According to US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, the shift in Washington's policy on anti-personnel land mines for Ukraine was needed to counter the changing Russian tactics.
Individual ground troops, rather than forces more protected in armoured carriers, are leading the Russian battlefield advance, so Ukraine has a need for things that can help slow down that effort, Austin said.
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Russia has been making slow and steady progress against Ukrainian defensive lines. According to Austin, as Russia has been unsuccessful in the way that they have been fighting, they have changed the tactics.
"They don’t lead with their mechanized forces anymore. They lead with dismounted forces who are able to close and do things to kind of pave the way for mechanized forces,” he said, adding that Ukraine needs things that can help slow down that effort.
What do these mines do?
Anti-personnel mines are hidden beneath the surface of the ground. They explode on a person's weight.
Currently, Russia has been sending small groups of soldiers on motorbikes or by walking behind Ukrainian positions. According to Ukrainian analysts, in towns like Chasiv Yar and Kurakhove the Russian soldiers are even sent out every 20 minutes and Ukraine has been finding this tactic tough to deal with. "We need more anti-personnel mines," they had said.
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Anti-personnel mines are designed to target individuals rather than vehicles.
They can be deployed in strategic locations to deny the enemy soldiers access to certain areas, protect military installations, or ambush the the enemy's forces.
Why are they controversial?
Humanitarian groups have often criticised the use of anti-personnel mines because of the lingering threat they present to civilians.
Amnesty International called the US move reckless and a deeply disappointing setback. Norway's foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, called it very problematic because Ukraine is a signatory to an international convention opposing the use of land mines.
Nonetheless, Austin pointed out that Ukraine already makes its own anti-personnel mines, and that the US has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines. He said the new mines that the US is supplying to Ukraine are not persistent, meaning troops can control when they would self-detonate.
That makes it far more safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own, Austin said.
The mines are electrically fused and powered by batteries so that when the battery runs out, they won't detonate. They can become inert in anywhere from four hours to two weeks.