Ukraine: Moscow uses at least seven types of antipersonnel mines, according to the Landmine Monitor

Mines, on the ground of a village liberated from Russian occupation on the outskirts of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, Wednesday, November 16, 2022. AP - Bernat Armangue

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2 mins

There is no clean war.

But there are guns dirtier than others.

Russia uses at least seven types of antipersonnel mines in Ukraine.

So says the Landmine Monitor 2022 report.

The coalition of NGOs at the initiative of the report denounces “ 

”, whose States parties are to meet next week in Geneva.

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With our correspondent in Geneva,

The year is not over yet.

But already, the number of civilians killed or injured by mines is five times higher in 2022 than in 2021 in Ukraine.

In the first weeks of the Russian invasion alone, more than a hundred deminers were killed in the country.

Moscow has the largest stockpile of antipersonnel mines in the world.

Some were even used for the first time in Ukraine.

A third of the country would be contaminated.

Mary Wareham is a Landmine Monitor researcher.

What we observe in Ukraine is that anti-personnel mines can be placed by hand in the ground, but they can also be dispersed by artillery fire and specialized vehicles.

But it's not just anti-personnel mines.

Both sides also use anti-vehicle mines.

And it is very serious.

Because we see a lot of tractors and agricultural machinery exploding, with all the consequences we can imagine on agricultural production and food security.

Russia did not sign the Ottawa Treaty – like India, China and the United States elsewhere.

With the difference that Washington has hardly used antipersonnel mines since the first Gulf War.

Moscow, for its part, affirms that while it shares the ideal of a world without mines, they were nevertheless an effective means of ensuring the security of the country's borders.

►To re-read: Ukraine: civilian infrastructure again targeted by Russian strikes

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