Policy

Ukraine signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 24 February 1999 and ratified it on 27 December 2005, becoming a State Party on 1 June 2006.

Ukraine does not have specific legislation in place to enforce its implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty with fiscal and penal sanctions. It has reported existing laws and regulations under national implementation measures for the Mine Ban Treaty, including a 2012 law which approved an agreement with an agency of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to destroy Ukraine’s stockpiled antipersonnel mines.[1] A 2019 law on mine action “defines the legal and organization[al] foundations for the implementation of anti-mine activities in Ukraine.”[2]

Ukraine has provided sixteen Article 7 transparency reports under the Mine Ban Treaty since 2006. Its last annual updated report was submitted on 1 April 2021 and covered activities during calendar year 2020.[3] Ukraine has not submitted a report covering calendar year 2021, as of October 2022.

Since 2009, Ukraine has participated in the treaty’s meetings, most recently the Nineteenth Meeting of States Parties, held virtually in November 2021, and intersessional meetings held in Geneva in June 2022.[4]

Ukraine is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW). However, its obligations on antipersonnel landmines are superseded by the stricter prohibitions contained in the Mine Ban Treaty. Ukraine last submitted an annual updated transparency report for CCW Amended Protocol II and Protocol V in April 2021.

Ukraine is not party to the åConvention on Cluster Munitions.

Production and transfer

Ukraine declared in 2009 that it “has not made and does not produce antipersonnel mines.”[5]

Ukraine has not produced antipersonnel mines since its independence in 1991 and is not known to have exported them.[6] A moratorium on the export of antipersonnel mines was put in place in 1999 and stayed in effect until the Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for Ukraine in 2006.

Use

New use

There is no credible information that Ukrainian government forces have used antipersonnel mines in violation of the Mine Ban Treaty since 2014 and into 2022. Yet the apparent scale of PFM-series remotely-delivered mines in territory formerly under the control of the Russian military poses serious questions about the status of PFM-series antipersonnel mines awaiting destruction by Ukraine (see section below).

Russia has used several different types of antipersonnel landmines in Ukraine since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022.[7] This is an unprecedented situation in which a country that is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty is using the weapon on the territory of a State Party.

At least eight types of antipersonnel mines have been used or are alleged to have been used by Russian forces in Ukraine since February 2022. There is also significant evidence that Russian forces have laid victim-activated booby-traps and victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Ukraine since February 2022.[8]

Antipersonnel landmines used in Ukraine since February 2022

Note: USSR=Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

All of the antipersonnel mine types used were manufactured in Russia or its predecessor, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, or Soviet Union). Some mines used by Russia in Ukraine in 2022 were manufactured as recently as 2021. This includes the POM-3 antipersonnel mine, which is delivered by the ISDM Zemledelie-I mine-laying rocket launcher from a distance of 5–15km.[9] The POM-3 mine is equipped with a sensitive seismic fuze which makes it prone to detonate when approached, as well as a self-destruct feature. Another mine used by Russia in Ukraine, the PMN-4, was developed by Russia in the early 1990s.[10]

Other mine types used in Ukraine can be used in a command-detonated or victim-activated mode, including MON-series and OZM-72 mines.[11] The POM-2 mine is delivered by helicopter, ground-fired rockets, or other remote means, while its variant the POM-2R is designed to be emplaced by hand.[12]If activated by the victim through a mechanical pull, tension release, seismic fuze, or other means, such munitions are considered antipersonnel mines, prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty.[13]

Use of PFM-series mines

There have been numerous allegations and counter-allegations that both Russia and Ukraine have used PFM-series antipersonnel mines in Ukraine in 2022. The claims began during the first days of the invasion and have continued to emerge with greater frequency. The Monitor has reviewed approximately 30 such allegations, most of which related to territory under the control of Russian forces at the time the claim was made. After Ukrainian forces re-captured territory, particularly in eastern parts of the Kharkiv region and the city of Izium in September 2022, and former Russian-controlled territory became accessible to independent researchers, more information on the scale and method of PFM-series mine use has become available.

Both Russia and Ukraine stockpile PFM-series mines, which are delivered by a variety of dispersal systems including hand-carried ground launchers, vehicle-mounted launchers, jets and helicopters, and ground-fired 122mm and 220mm rockets.[14] The size of Russia’s stockpile of PFM-series mines is unknown.

Ukraine declared possessing 3.3 million PFM-series mines in 2020, which are all earmarked for destruction in accordance with the Mine Ban Treaty.[15] Ukraine has already destroyed more than three million PFM-series mines contained in cartridges used in the KMGU aerial dispenser and other types of “cassettes” carrying PFM-series mines used to load different types of delivery systems. The vast majority of Ukraine’s remaining antipersonnel landmine stocks consist of PFM-1S self-destructing mines contained in 220mm 9M27K3 rockets fired by the Uragan multi-barrel rocket launchers.[16]

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova claimed that PFM-series landmines were used by Russian forces in the Kharkiv region as early as 26 February 2022.[17] Subsequently, a Polish media outlet reported that the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army had confirmed the discovery of such mines.[18] Other allegations of Russian use of PFM-series mines, recorded by the Monitor, include claims made on Ukrainian social media that a Russian aircraft scattered PFM mines in the Sumi region in mid-March 2022.[19] Similar reports surfaced in early April 2022 alleging Russian use of PFM-series mines near the town of Popasnaya.[20]

Russian officials have alleged that Ukrainian forces used PFM-series antipersonnel mines, while photographs and videos shared by Russians on social media showed PFM-series mines lying in place after attacks in areas that were under Russian control at the time.[21] Ukraine has denied the allegations and blamed Russian forces for PFM-series mine use.[22] The United Kingdom (UK) and the US have accused Russian forces of using PFM-series mines in the Donbas region.[23]

Initially, most claims of use made by Russian sources consisted of a close-up photograph of a mine posted to social media with no further context.[24] This trend culminated in July 2022, as Russian media sources in the city of Donetsk claimed that PFM-series mines had been scattered at several locations in the city center. These allegations were accompanied by images of mine clearance;[25] of individual PFM mines in isolation;[26] of civilians handling presumably live mines;[27] and claims of civilian casualties.[28] Russian diplomatic posts globally shared and quickly amplified the story.[29]

One of the more notable Russian claims of PFM-series mine use by Ukrainian forces originated from an attack in late May 2022 on Russian positions in Novovoskresenske, in the Kherson region. Evidence of the attack included photographs of mines in place, remnants of detonated mines, and remnants of the 220mm 9M27K3 Uragan mine-laying rocket, which opens in flight and scatters a payload of 312 PFM-type mines.[30] Ukrainian officials cited in a Ukrainian media report about this attack on 25 May 2022 counter-attributed responsibility to Russian forces.[31]

As of October 2022, there was significant visual evidence of PFM-type mine use and the remnants of the distinctive carrier equipment necessary to deploy these mines. For example, there have been sightings of the KPFM-1M cassette assembly used by 9M27K3 220mm Uragan mine-laying rockets.[32] Both elements were present in images accompanying the Russian claim that Ukrainian troops had mined the approaches to Bakhmut and Soledar, in the Donetsk region, in early August 2022.[33] There have been no sightings of KSF-1 series canisters or the BKF-PFM cartridges necessary to deploy these mines from other launch modalities, such as trucks or helicopters.

Since there is no independent confirmation of the allegations, a final assessment and attribution of use of PFM-type mines in Ukraine is not possible at this time.

International reaction

Since March 2022, Russia’s use of antipersonnel mines in Ukraine has been strongly condemned, including by the Mine Ban Treaty president of the Twentieth Meeting of States Parties, Colombia, as well as Austria, Belgium, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, and the US. The new use of antipersonnel landmines in Ukraine has also been condemned by the treaty’s special envoy for universalization, as well as by US congressional representatives such as Senator Patrick Leahy.[34] 

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) called on all parties to the armed conflict in Ukraine to ensure that no antipersonnel mines were used by any actor, and to destroy any antipersonnel mines seized or otherwise acquired.[35]

Antivehicle mines

Antivehicle mines are often used in a manner which violates the laws of war. This typically occurs when they are deployed indiscriminately; meaning that their effects are not limited to only military vehicles and that they can harm military or civilian vehicles without distinction. Unlawful use also includes taking inadequate precautions to avoid civilian casualties.

Antivehicle mines (also called antitank mines) have been used during the war in Ukraine by both Russian and Ukrainian forces.[36] These mines are designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles. The Mine Ban Treaty prohibits antipersonnel mines, but not antivehicle mines or command-detonated (remote-controlled) mines. Amended Protocol II of the CCW on landmines provides weak restrictions on the use of antivehicle mines.

Antivehicle landmines used in Ukraine in 2022

Note: USSR=Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Ukrainian forces have also received, and are apparently using, antivehicle mines provided by their military allies. Western designed or produced antivehicle landmines reported to have been used in Ukraine include the rocket-delivered AT-DM1399 mine,[37] the off-route DM-22, the pressure DM-31,[38] the magnetic influence HPD-2A2,[39] the magnetic influence FFV-028,[40] and the off-route PK-14 mine.[41]

Previous use

Previously, antipersonnel mines were used in the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-supported separatists that erupted in early 2014—initially in Crimea, and later in the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine has stated that it did not use antipersonnel mines and has accused Russian-supported insurgent forces of laying mines.[42]

There is significant evidence, at different locations, that antipersonnel mines of Soviet-origin with production markings from the 1980s, and antipersonnel mines with production markings from the 2000s (indicating Russian origin), have been stockpiled and used by Russian-supported separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014, including MON-series mines, PMN-1 and PMN-2 mines, OZM-72 mines, and POM-2 mines.

Stockpiling and destruction

The types and quantities of antipersonnel landmines that Ukraine has reported in its stockpile have varied over the years. The highest reported total—6,664,342 mines of nine different types—was detailed in Landmine Monitor 2006.[43]

Ukraine has destroyed 3,438,948 antipersonnel landmines to date, constituting more than half of its total stocks. However, it missed its 1 June 2010 treaty-mandated deadline for the destruction of all stockpiled antipersonnel mines and is therefore in violation of the Mine Ban Treaty.[44]

In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report for calendar year 2020, Ukraine declared a stockpile of 3,364,433 antipersonnel mines, comprised of 3,363,828 PFM-series mines and 605 OZM-4 mines.[45] Ukraine said that a small number of PFM-type mines that were considered to be unstable and unsafe for further storage were destroyed in 2020.

Stockpiled antipersonnel mines destroyed by Ukraine, 2011–2021[46]

Between 1999 and 2018, Ukraine completed the destruction of all its stocks of antipersonnel mines except for the PFM-1 type.[47] The OZM-4 mines were taken from storage facilities in Crimea seized by Russian forces in 2014.[48]

At the Mine Ban Treaty’s Fourth Review Conference, in November 2019, Ukraine reaffirmed its determination to destroy the “existing antipersonnel landmines inherited from pre-independence time” and said that the destruction process would continue to be funded from the state budget.[49] Ukraine has often pledged to destroy its remaining stocks, but has not provided a timeline for when it plans to do so.[50]

The process for the destruction of stockpiles of PFM-type antipersonnel mines has been overseen by a 2013 agreement between the Ministry of Defense, NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency, and the Pavlograd Chemical Plant. However, that agreement expired at the beginning of 2020 and has not since been renewed.[51]

To revitalize stockpile destruction efforts, Ukraine said in November 2021 that the NATO Support and Procurement Agency would open an international tender process to find bidders from Ukraine and NATO member states to destroy the remaining stocks.