US to give antipersonnel mines to Ukraine to help slow the Russian advance
The U.S. defense chief says the Biden administration will give Ukraine antipersonnel land mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield advances
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will give Ukraine antipersonnel mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield advances, marking the second major shift on U.S. military support for Kyiv in days.
After allowing Ukraine to use longer-range American missiles to launch strikes deeper into Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the shift in Washington’s policy on antipersonnel land mines for Ukraine was needed to counter changing Russian tactics.
The war, which reached its 1,000-day milestone on Tuesday, has largely been going Russia’s way. Moscow's bigger army is slowly pushing Ukraine’s forces backward in the eastern Donetsk region, while Ukrainian civilians are being maimed and killed by Russian drones and missiles often fired from inside Russia.
Individual ground troops, rather than forces more protected in armored carriers, are leading the Russian battlefield advance, so Ukraine has “a need for things that can help slow down that effort,” Austin said during a trip to Laos.
