The expert noted that the Russian military is laying mines in a hurry, chaotically and doing it wrong, hoping to restrain the offensive of Ukrainian troops.
The Russian military is using banned anti-personnel mines to cover up its tactical retreat in Ukraine, a Human Rights Watch report said. The fact that the Russian military uses these mines shows that they were made in the region. And they are not planning a new offensive on Kyiv. This was reported to Business Insider by Frederic Kagan, an expert at the Institute for War Studies.
“If you place such mines all over the territory, it means that they do not plan to return there in the near future,” said the expert.
According to Kagan, the Ukrainian army launched a Russian offensive on Kyiv and launched its own counteroffensive to force Russian troops to withdraw. So Moscow's announcement of a “withdrawal” of troops from the Ukrainian capital is just a cover to save political capital amid forced admission of defeat near Kiev.
On Monday, Ukrainian explosives disposal teams found anti-personnel mines in the Kharkiv region. These cases were noted in the Human Rights Watch report. In particular, we are talking about the detection of POM-3 mines, which can injure people within a radius of 15 meters. Human Rights Watch emphasizes that these mines, which “indiscriminately kill and maim”, are not used by the Ukrainian armed forces. They self-destruct if they are not activated within a certain period of time. Defense mines were used at checkpoints in Kyiv.
Evaluating the photos shown by Business Insider journalists, Kagan said that the Russian military, apparently, is chaotically placing mines. They are not dripped or laid deep.
“They are laying mines to delay the Ukrainian offensive while they withdraw troops. From what I've seen, they're in a hurry. I think the demining process will be much easier than in places with deep minefields, “the expert explained.
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