The US is sending antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine. Here's what it means
The U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines expands the use of a weapon that the international community has long condemned because of its danger to innocent civilians
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines expands the use of a weapon that the international community has long condemned because of its danger to innocent civilians. And it reflects another in a long line of American policy shifts on the controversial issue in the past 30 years.
U.S. officials say the mines are needed to help Ukraine stall Russian progress on the battlefield, where Moscow's forces are moving in smaller ground units on the front lines rather than in more heavily protected armored vehicles.
The Defense Department has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the new policy will give Ukraine “nonpersistent antipersonnel land mines” that are safer because they lose the ability to detonate over time.
The change shows the Biden administration "has clearly and belatedly become less risk averse as it eyes troubling battlefield developments in Ukraine and worries how U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia may change on January 20,” when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, according to Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
