US officials said the “non-persistent” mines were to help slow the Russian advance on the front line, with kyiv pledging to use them on its own territory and avoiding areas populated by civilians.
New course in American support for kyiv. President Joe Biden has agreed to provide antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, several officials from his administration told the American press.
Washington hopes through this measure to help slow the advance of the Russian army in the East, officials told the press, including the Washington Post which revealed the announcement on Tuesday. Days earlier, the United States had already authorized Ukraine to fire long-range ATACMS missiles at Russian targets, a major change obtained after months of requests from kyiv.
Officials also indicated that antipersonnel mines were intended to be used on Ukrainian territory, particularly in the east, to strengthen its line of defense against advancing Russian troops, and not on the Russian side. As a condition of the agreement, Ukraine agreed not to use these mines in areas populated by its own civilians.
“Non-persistent” mines
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the Russian Defense Ministry and the Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States has supplied kyiv with anti-tank mines. These antipersonnel mines are intended to stop the Russian advance, an official added on condition of anonymity to Reuters, specifying that the American mines differed from those of Russia. They are “non-persistent”equipped with a self-destruction or self-deactivation device after a predefined period. The battery needed to explode eventually runs out.
On Tuesday, the 1000th day of war, Ukraine used US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. Moscow said the use of ATACMS was a clear signal that the West wanted to escalate the conflict.
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