Landmines are designed to slow down the advance of the opposing forces. They do inflict damage, of course, but their main objective is to make the enemy doubt their every movement.
In just over a year of war, Ukraine has become the most mine-littered country in the world. In fact, there are so many landmines all over the place that the Ukrainian counterattack has stopped and the Russians themselves find it difficult to maneuver.
A sign in Ukraine warning locals that the area might be contaminated with landmines. Image credit: U.S. Department of State via Wikimedia
Minefields are constructions of military engineering. There are many principles that need to be followed to construct an effective minefield. One of the most important ones is mapping.
Normally, every mine will be marked on a map. Also, safe passages will be mapped and sometimes even marked out. This is important to avoid inflicting damage in friendly fire incidents. Mapping minefields requires a lot of care and responsibility, but it is an unbelievably important job.
Roman Svitan, a Ukrainian military expert, pilot-instructor and reserve colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that the Russian forces in Ukraine do not receive maps of their own minefields. They simply don’t exist. And this, of course, poses a great danger to the Russians – they often run over their own landmines. The same exact landmines that were placed to slow down the Ukrainian advance, which they actually do successfully.
“No one provides them with any maps of their own minefields. They simply don’t exist,” said the military expert.
According to Svitan, it is normally possible to pass through a minefield only on the designated passages, but you need to know where they are. Sometimes a minefield is created by one unit and then positions are manned by completely different soldiers, which makes the situation very precarious, because there are no maps.
Russians are putting landmines everywhere out of fear, said Svitan. Mines on top of mines, and more mines next to them. When units are rotated or reinforcements arrive, these minefields become dangerous for the Russians themselves, who have no maps or plans.
According to Svitan, the lack of minefield plans can also be used to reinforce the belief of Russian soldiers that they do not have an option to retreat. “They are brought to a place, left, and told: “You can’t go anywhere, because everywhere around there are mines. There are no minefield maps. Sit in your positions,” the military expert added.
Of course, it needs to be said that this information is unconfirmed. However, Russian forces have demonstrated time and again that they do not have the appropriate training or the attention to detail. Also, there have been many confirmed incidents when Russian soldiers died on their own landmines.
Written by Povilas M.
Source: Tsn.ua