Biden Approves Anti-Personnel Mines for Ukraine Amid Rising Tensions
Reuters
US official said that President Joe Biden has approved the provision of anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine.The mines are intended to slow Russian advances in eastern Ukraine, particularly when used alongside other US-supplied munitions.
The US expects Ukraine to deploy the mines within its own territory, avoiding civilian-populated areas, the official said. This development, first reported by The Washington Post, has not yet elicited comments from the offices of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s defence ministry, Russia’s defence ministry, or the Kremlin.
Whilst the US has supplied Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the conflict, the addition of anti-personnel mines is meant to counter Russian ground troops more effectively. Unlike Russian mines, US mines are described as 'non-persistent', becoming inert after a preset period due to their reliance on a battery for detonation.
On the same day, Ukraine utilized US-supplied ATACMS missiles to strike targets in Russian territory, following newly granted permission from the Biden administration. The strikes coincided with the war’s 1,000th day. Moscow criticized the use of the long-range missiles, framing it as evidence of Western escalation.
In a related move, Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike, citing a broader range of conventional threats. This decision follows warnings to NATO countries, particularly the US, Britain, and France, that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles deep inside Russia could lead Moscow to view them as direct participants in the war.
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