Russian troops have scattered crumbs along the retreat from northern Ukraine, including variants capable of detecting and planning seismic activity. explodes. The fact that many have settled indiscriminately around residential areas is evidence, observers say, of Moscow’s intention to sow disaster and fear. And they are worried other countries take into account. “This will legitimize the use of landmines if the military sees them as effective,” said Ken Rutherford, a professor of political science at James Madison University who specializes in such weapons and landmine survivors. in Somalia in 1993. “What we are seeing now is the release of moral restrictions; because these are professional armies, not ISIS.” Since 1997, the type of landmines designed to kill people – known as anti-personnel landmines – has been outlawed in most countries. The Ottawa Convention banning their use has been signed by more than 160 nations, though mostly not by major military powers such as Russia, the United States and China. Anti-vehicle mines, however, are a common feature in the arsenals of militant nations and are not considered illegal unless they are repurposed to target civilians. In Ukraine, there are indications that Russia has used anti-personnel mines and modified anti-personnel mines in residential and agricultural areas, say US officials and military analysts. Ukraine has used anti-tank mines to block Russian advance around key cities, but officials say there is no evidence that its forces targeted Russian troops with anti-personnel mines in breach of its obligations as a party to the Ottawa Convention. As the world is watching the war unfold, different countries are uniquely planning conclusions on landmine use. Ukrainian military forces carried out controlled mine explosions in the eastern city of Kharkov on April 11. (Video: Julie Yoon / The Washington Post, Photo: The Washington Post) President Biden’s top military adviser, General Mark A. Milli, told U.S. lawmakers last week that landmines “They are important for the formation of enemy operations.” Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: “We do not need to look any further than what is really happening in Ukraine. Landmines are being used effectively by Ukrainian forces to form access boulevards.” . “Anti-tank or anti-personnel mines,” Milley concluded, “are effective for use in combat.” The United States’ position on landmines is that anti-vehicle and anti-personnel mines have complementary functions and are more effective when used together. However, the United States has not used anti-personnel mines since 1991, with the sole exception of Afghanistan in 2002, according to researchers. For at least that long, the United States has been using “smart” weapons with pre-programmed weapons expiration dates that force them to neutralize themselves so that they do not pose an indefinite danger to civilians. In general, experts say, these are not the types of landmines used in Ukraine. In 2014, the Obama administration introduced a formal policy that explicitly prohibits the production or storage of anti-personnel landmines, in an effort to align US behavior with the basic principles of the Ottawa Convention. It was the same year that Russian-backed forces occupied the Crimean peninsula and eastern Donbass region of Ukraine, freely mining the latter. That war “There are fears that the United States may feel the need to strengthen its landmine capability” to fight an almost adversary in a high-intensity, Cold War, armored vehicle collision, “said Mark Hiznay, the deputy director of the department. Rights. I’m watching. That’s done the rise, he added, of President Donald Trump’s decision in late 2020 to relax US landmine policy Removal of all geographical restrictions on where anti-personnel mines may be deployed by US forces. Although Biden has promised to reverse the policy when he takes office, so far he has not done so. A senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the issue is sensitive, said a government review was under way. and that it is too early to say whether Ukraine’s experience with landmines can shape the US outlook. Meanwhile, any success Ukraine could inspire other nations to seek similar weapons, observers say. “What we are doing, what the Ukrainians and the Russians are doing, is setting a precedent – not just landmines but also naval mines,” said Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), A former Green Beret and Afghanistan war veteran. who are among those in Washington who are demanding that the Biden administration do more to equip the Ukrainians. Taiwan, Waltz noted, has taken an active interest in mining its coastal areas to prevent encroachment by Chinese naval vessels. The biggest danger, observers say, is whether Russia’s more indiscriminate use of landmines also proves successful in slowing down Ukrainian forces. and in turn inspires nations seeking to dominate others. Independent reports from inside Ukraine indicate that Russian forces have randomly and disorganizedly scattered mines in areas with a civilian population. The practice, when taken along with allegations of war crimes and what the Pentagon called Moscow’s history of barbarism and “utter contempt” for civilian life, is nothing short of “bad,” said Frederick Kagan, a military expert. at the American Enterprise Institute. But while “I think the Russians undertook to do evil,” Kagan added, “I do not think they were good enough to set a standard for anyone else to follow.” “I took all this mining activity, as well as the retreat, and the current situation is great, which means that the Russians have no serious intention of resuming a move to Kyiv soon,” Kagan said, noting that the retreating forces had abandoned the areas from which they left. heavily mined that they would be in danger of being blown up if they tried to re-enter. The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ukrainian personnel tried to clear Russian anti-personnel mines from the northern suburbs of Kiev. senior USA said a defense official. The United States and its allies also contribute several hundred million dollars a year to global landmine removal. However, experts say it will take years – and money – to slow down the cost of mining – to repair the damage caused to Ukraine as a result, a cost that will only increase if their use is multiplied elsewhere. “Our grandchildren will talk about landmines in Ukraine”, said Rutherford. “It will take decades to clear these landmines.” Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.
