https://sputnikglobe.com/20250629/ukraines-withdrawal-from-anti-personnel-landmine-treaty-could-haunt-generations-1122363338.html
Ukraine’s Withdrawal From Anti-Personnel Landmine Treaty Could Haunt Generations
Ukraine’s Withdrawal From Anti-Personnel Landmine Treaty Could Haunt Generations
Sputnik International
Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree formally withdrawing Ukraine from the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines. The move coincided with the exit from the treaty by countries along NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland and the Baltics. Sputnik asked leading Russian and US military experts about the move’s likely consequences.
2025-06-29T16:42+0000
2025-06-29T16:42+0000
2025-06-29T16:42+0000
military
earl rasmussen
viktor litovkin
volodymyr zelensky
ukraine
russia
nato
landmine
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Ukraine hasn’t abided by its obligations under the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines for over a decade, using mine-based cluster munitions against the Donbass since 2014, retired Russian colonel Viktor Litovkin told Sputnik.Therefore, Ukraine’s decision, and that of its Eastern European NATO ‘partners’, to formally quit the treaty this week is strictly “a propaganda campaign intended to emphasize that Russia is an aggressor,” justifying bigger defense budgets and the further militarization of the region, according to the observer.Anti-Vehicle vs. Anti-Personnel MinesAnti-vehicle minefields created in areas of active hostilities and contributing to defensive lines are comparatively straightforward to detect and remove by specialists, provided the time, inclination and resources to do so, Litovkin said. Russia’s military, for example, is equipped with entire specialized minesweeping units, including sappers with portable detectors, robots, and mine trawlers attached to tanks or other armored vehicles.Anti-personnel mines are a different story, constituting a danger that’s amplified by the Ukrainian military’s seemingly random deployment of these deadly weapons, in forests and civilian areas, or as boobytraps.When mines are deployed in forests, for example, they’re almost impossible to detect or clear effectively, the analyst said.Generational ImpactFrom PFM-1 Lepestok pressure mines, widely spread across Donbass cities in the course of fighting, to tripwire-triggered MON-50 and MON-100 frag mines, to NATO’s ADAM and MOPMS series munitions, Ukraine has a vast arsenal of anti-personnel mines at its disposal which could scar the conflict zone for generations to come if deployed at even higher levels than it is today.Landmines often “go left unexploded, creating a hazard for civilians, not only during the conflict itself, but even after the conflict and sometimes years later,” retired US Army Lt. Col. Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik.Move Rooted in DesperationEchoing Litovkin’s point about cluster anti-personnel mines being actively used in Ukraine even while Kiev was a party to the Ottawa Convention, Rasmussen said the decision to formally quit the treaty is based on the country’s “absolute desperation” trying to slow the Russian advance.“Russians will still advance, but they’ll have to do demining operations, which takes a lot of time, and endangers soldiers that carry out those functions as well,” he said, explaining Ukraine’s logic.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20241121/us-providing-ukraine-with-antipersonnel-mines-threatens-civilian-lives—human-rights-watch-1120947825.html
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why did ukraine withdraw from landmine treaty, who besides ukraine withdrew from the landmine treaty, what will ukraine’s withdrawal from landmine treaty mean
why did ukraine withdraw from landmine treaty, who besides ukraine withdrew from the landmine treaty, what will ukraine’s withdrawal from landmine treaty mean
Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree formally withdrawing Ukraine from the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines. The move coincided with the exit from the treaty by countries along NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland and the Baltics. Sputnik asked leading Russian and US military experts about the move’s likely consequences.
Ukraine hasn’t abided by its obligations under the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines for over a decade, using mine-based cluster munitions against the Donbass since 2014, retired Russian colonel Viktor Litovkin told Sputnik.
Therefore, Ukraine’s decision, and that of its Eastern European NATO ‘partners’, to formally quit the treaty this week is strictly “a propaganda campaign intended to emphasize that Russia is an aggressor,” justifying bigger defense budgets and the further militarization of the region, according to the observer.
Anti-Vehicle vs. Anti-Personnel Mines
Anti-vehicle minefields created in areas of active hostilities and contributing to defensive lines are comparatively straightforward to detect and remove by specialists, provided the time, inclination and resources to do so, Litovkin said. Russia’s military, for example, is equipped with entire specialized minesweeping units, including sappers with portable detectors, robots, and mine trawlers attached to tanks or other armored vehicles.
Anti-personnel mines are a different story, constituting a danger that’s amplified by the Ukrainian military’s seemingly random deployment of these deadly weapons, in forests and civilian areas, or as boobytraps.
“In liberated areas there have been cases of mines being disguised as toys, candies, household items, found on children’s playgrounds, etc. This is very dangerous for our military, but even more so for the civilian population,” Litovkin stressed.
When mines are deployed in forests, for example, they’re almost impossible to detect or clear effectively, the analyst said.
“The risks stem from the fact that they are not visible on the ground. Civilians go to the forest for berries or mushrooms, trigger a mine and suddenly – their leg is gone, or they’re riddled with holes.”
21 November 2024, 04:51 GMT
From PFM-1 Lepestok pressure mines, widely spread across Donbass cities in the course of fighting, to tripwire-triggered MON-50 and MON-100 frag mines, to NATO’s ADAM and MOPMS series munitions, Ukraine has a vast arsenal of anti-personnel mines at its disposal which could scar the conflict zone for generations to come if deployed at even higher levels than it is today.
Landmines often “go left unexploded, creating a hazard for civilians, not only during the conflict itself, but even after the conflict and sometimes years later,” retired US Army Lt. Col. Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik.
“We still have mines that are going off that are found in Vietnam, and in Afghanistan as well,” the observer stressed, saying that landmines have effectively turned into a humanitarian issue, and a lingering threat to civilians lasting decades or generations.
15 December 2024, 23:41 GMT
Move Rooted in Desperation
Echoing Litovkin’s point about cluster anti-personnel mines being actively used in Ukraine even while Kiev was a party to the Ottawa Convention, Rasmussen said the decision to formally quit the treaty is based on the country’s “absolute desperation” trying to slow the Russian advance.
“Russians will still advance, but they’ll have to do demining operations, which takes a lot of time, and endangers soldiers that carry out those functions as well,” he said, explaining Ukraine’s logic.