United Kingdom Ministry of Defence accused Russia of using anti-personnel mines that have previously been mistaken for toys by children, in its war against Ukraine.
The mines have the potential to cause danger to the Ukrainian military as well as civilians, the ministry tweeted on Monday. The update comes as the war in Ukraine moves closer to the six-month mark with no end in sight.
"Russia is highly likely deploying anti-personnel mines to protect and deter freedom of movement along its defensive lines in the Donbas," the ministry said in its update. "These mines have the potential to inflict widespread casualties amongst both the military and the local civilian population."
The update noted that the anti-personnel mines remain a controversial weapon of war and highlighted Russia's previous use of them in Afghanistan.
"In Donetsk and Kramatorsk, Russia has highly likely attempted employment of PFM-1 and PFM-1S scatterable anti-personnel mines. Commonly called the butterfly mine, the PFM-1 series are deeply controversial, indiscriminate weapons. PFM-1s were used to devastating effect in the Soviet-Afghan War where they allegedly maimed high numbers of children who mistook them for toys," the statement said.
"It is highly like that the Soviet-era stock being used by Russia will have degraded over time and are now highly unreliable and unpredictable," it continued. "This poses a threat to both the local population and humanitarian mine clearance operations."
Russia has been accused of using mines while fighting in Ukraine. Just a month after the war began in February, a video went viral that appeared to show Ukrainian drivers slowly moving over landmines in order to get to the open road. The cars would slow down in front of what appeared to be land mines and position their vehicles in order to drive over them without making contact.
In late March, Russian forces were accused of using banned anti-personnel mines to cover their retreat in Kharkiv.
A report from Human Rights Watch claimed that such mines were located by Ukrainian explosive ordnance disposal technicians on March 28. The Arms Director of Human Rights Watch, Stephen Goose, called on the international community to condemn Russia for use of the weapon.
"Countries around the world should forcefully condemn Russia's use of banned anti-personnel land mines in Ukraine," he said. "These weapons do not differentiate between combatants and civilians and leave a deadly legacy for years to come."
Newsweek reached out to Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
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About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
