Facing battlefield setbacks, Ukraine withdraws from mine ban treaty

By Max Hunder and Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey

KYIV (Reuters) -Oleksiy, a 26-year-old Ukrainian soldier, is six months into a difficult recovery after losing most of his left leg to an anti-personnel mine. Despite his injuries, he says Ukraine is right to withdraw from a treaty banning such weapons.

Facing challenges in securing new U.S. supplies of artillery and munitions, or to recruit enough new soldiers to hold frontline positions, Kyiv announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention on June 29.

Military analysts and a Ukrainian unit commander said that doing so could help slow the Russian advances Kyiv is struggling to contain over three years after Moscow's full-scale invasion.

"Russia does not adhere to any conventions - so why should we?" Oleksiy, who gave only his first name in line with Ukrainian military requirements, said at a rehabilitation centre for wounded service personnel in Kyiv.

"We need to do this, because if we mine (our land) then there is then a chance that we won’t give it up."

Russia is not a party to the treaty, and military analysts, rights groups and Ukrainian soldiers say it has been using anti-personnel mines widely.

Russia's Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Moscow has not confirmed it uses anti-personnel mines in Ukraine. Russian officials say Ukraine has already used such devices in the war.

The United States approved the provision of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine in November, Reuters has previously reported.

At the time, U.S. officials said Ukraine was expected to use the U.S. mines on its own territory although it committed to not using them in areas populated with civilians. Russia holds about a fifth of Ukraine including Crimea, which it seized in 2014.

Ukraine's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on whether it already deploys such munitions, their battlefield usefulness and criticism of the move. Ukraine widely uses anti-vehicle mines not covered by the treaty.

About a quarter of Ukraine is contaminated by mines or unexploded ordnance, the Defence Ministry's demining unit says.

Frontline areas and pockets of the Kursk region just inside Russia are thickly contaminated with the small devices which explode when triggered by contact, vibration or tripwires.

Three military analysts said anti-personnel mines were a useful tool to counter Russia's emerging tactic of sending small assault squads, some riding on motorbikes, that are not stopped by other frontline fortifications.

"When our side does not have much infantry on the front lines, creating a system of obstacles with these types of mines strengthens the defence - so that we do not rely solely on UAVs or artillery," said Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at Ukraine's National Institute for Strategic Studies, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as drones.

A bomb squad company commander from Ukraine's 59th brigade operating near the eastern city of Pokrovsk said a large rotary drone could be used to deploy up to 70 anti-personnel mines at a time.

"They can effectively mine distant areas. And the enemy will take significant losses without even reaching our positions," said the commander, who uses the call-sign Voron. He did not say whether Ukraine was already deploying anti-personnel mines.

"COPYING RUSSIA"

Anti-mine campaigners condemned Ukraine's decision to leave the Ottawa Convention, following the example of five other European nations bordering Russia.

The move opens the way to Ukraine increasing the deployment of a munition that can maim civilians, including children, long after conflict subsides.

Ukraine said in July 2024 that nearly 300 Ukrainian civilians had been killed and over 1,000 others wounded by Russian mines. Neither country releases casualty figures for its own soldiers.

Tamar Gabelnick, director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, told Reuters that Kyiv's decision would put civilians at risk for years.

"Why would Ukraine want to copy the abusive, horrible military tactics of their enemy? Why would they want to stoop down to that level?", she said.

About 85% of mine deaths worldwide are civilian, she said.

After signing a decree to quit the treaty, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that often the function performed by anti-personnel mines could not be performed by any other weapon.

The decision to exit the treaty, which prohibits anti-personnel mines but not other types such as anti-vehicle mines, needs parliament's approval but is likely to be waved through.

Lawmaker Fedir Venislavskiy said the armed forces would use the munitions responsibly and that Ukraine has regulations on use of anti-vehicle mines, including mapping their locations.

"The maps of these minefields will allow them to be cleared quite quickly after hostilities end," he said.

Ukraine has not said whether it plans to quickly deploy more mines. Venislavskiy said it would now be able to establish its own production.

Ukraine destroyed some of its Soviet-era anti-personnel mine stocks after ratifying the convention in 2005 but Venislavskiy said it still has enough to cause Russia problems.

Oleksiy set off a mine while defending a patch of forest in territory Ukraine held in Russia's Kursk region at the time. He did not say who set the mine.

"I fell and saw that my leg was still there but twisted... it became so painful, I started to shout for help," he said.

Oleksiy dragged himself to his comrades, he said, possibly saving their lives. His leg was later amputated but he said the potential reward of mines stopping Russian advances was worth the risks involved in deploying them.

"We can demine it later - it's a long process, it can drag on for many years, but it’s not giving up your land," he said.

(Reporting by Max Hunder and Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey; Additional reporting by Taras Garanich and Alina Smutko, Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Timothy Heritage)