War in Ukraine | The United States will supply antipersonnel mines to Ukraine: what we know

Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that the antipersonnel mines, which Washington decided to supply to kyiv, attracting criticism from NGOs, were “very important” in stopping the advance of the Russian army in the east of the country.

US President Joe Bide agreed to supply anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, although he declared in 2022 that he wanted to ban them. Washington hopes this measure will help slow the advance of the Russian army in eastern Ukraine.

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Some 164 states and territories, including Ukraine, signed the 1997 Ottawa Convention on the Ban and Elimination of Anti-Personnel Mines. But neither Russia nor the United States have ratified this text.

However, the United States is not a signatory to the UN treaty banning antipersonnel mines. kyiv has undertaken to use these mines only on its territory.

• A change of course by the Biden administration

The United States’ decision to supply antipersonnel mines to Ukraine reflects a shift in Russia’s battlefield tactics, with Moscow increasingly favoring infantry, the defense secretary said Wednesday. Lloyd Austin.

“Their mechanized forces are no longer in the lead. They are advancing on foot in order to approach and do things to open the way for the mechanized forces.”Lloyd Austin told journalists during a visit to Laos, a country long ravaged by this type of weaponry.

Ukrainians “need things that can help slow down this effort on the part of the Russians”he added as the advance of Russian troops accelerates in eastern Ukraine.

kyiv is observing this movement with heightened concern since Donald Trump’s victory in the American presidential election in November. This turnaround comes a few days after Washington gave the green light to Ukraine to strike on Russian territory with American-made long-range missiles, a red line for Moscow.

Ukraine fears that the Republican’s return to the White House in January will lead to a drop in crucial US aid and that the new US administration will ask kyiv to make territorial concessions to the Russia.

• Mines capable of self-destructing near civilians

Buried or hidden on the ground, antipersonnel mines explode when a person approaches or comes into contact with them, often causing mutilation if not death.

The Russian army also uses “widely” these explosives on Ukrainian territory since the large-scale invasion in February 2022, with “at least 13 types of antipersonnel mines deployed”points out a global report published Wednesday by the Landmine Observatory.

According to this report, at least 580 Ukrainians were killed or injured by antipersonnel mines or explosive remnants in 2023, making Ukraine the fourth country in the world most affected by this scourge.

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While the Ukrainian army seems to be on the decline in the face of Moscow’s forces, supporters of these mines “could argue that they serve as a defensive tool to slow or block invading forces”estimates Alma Taslidzan of the NGO Handicap international, interviewed by AFP.

According to Lloyd Austin, the mines supplied by the United States will be “non-persistent” that is to say equipped with a self-destruction or self-deactivation device, which would theoretically limit the risks for civilians. The so-called antipersonnel mines “non-persistent” may self-destruct or become inactive after losing battery charge.

• Zelensky congratulates this news

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated this Wednesday that the antipersonnel mines, which Washington decided to supply to kyiv, attracting criticism from specialized organizations, were “very important” to stop the advance of the Russian army in eastern Ukraine.

The Head of State welcomed the payment of a new tranche of American military aid including anti-personnel mines “very important (…) to stop the Russian assaults”. Moscow soldiers advance against fewer and less well-armed Ukrainian troops.

• The anger of NGOs

The decision on landmines was immediately criticized by human rights groups because of the risks they pose to civilians. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) on Wednesday denounced a decision “disastrous”. The group, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1997, “will endeavor to get the United States to reverse its decision”.

Alma Taslidzan rejects the idea of ​​mines being able to self-deactivate in the presence of civilians. They “do not know the difference between soldiers and civilians” and continue long after their installation to explode in contact with farmers or even children, deplores Alma Taslidzan. These “mechanisms are not 100% reliable” and provide no absolute guarantee that they will not explode when civilians pass by or, later, when deminers are at work, she adds.

The explosives intended for Ukraine are therefore “obsolete antipersonnel mines still in American stockpiles”aged at least 27 years, including “batteries deteriorate with age”explains to AFP the expert, who says she is not “not even sure that (they) will work as expected”. Under Barack Obama, the United States decided to “do not extend or modify the life of the batteries” of these mines which were to “expire in the early 2030s”she recalls.

Let Washington put them back into practice “would actually weaken” the Ottawa Convention and “would give an excuse to other states to also violate the treaty”fears Alma Taslidzan, from Handicap international.

The American decision is “disastrous”wrote the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) in a press release sent to AFP. “Ukraine must make it clear that it cannot and will not accept these weapons”.