President Biden has given the Pentagon the green light to ship antipersonnel mines to Ukraine, a policy the commander-in-chief once called “reckless.”
“We have provided anti-tank mines throughout the conflict, and the Biden-Harris administration will soon also provide non-persistent antipersonnel landmines (APLs) to Ukraine,” a U.S. official told the Post.
The official said the explosive device is different from the one used by Russia because it becomes “inactive after a preset period of time (from four hours to two weeks)” and the battery runs out of power. He pointed out that it would not explode even if the bomb was used, so in theory there would be less long-term danger to civilians.
The shift in landmine policy comes days after the Biden-Harris administration authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-made long-range missiles to attack Russia's Kursk region, following recent attacks on the Ukrainian front. It was reported that this was necessary to stop the Russian advance. Formal.
“Rapidly deployable APLs are designed to blunt the advance of ground forces, and as such, especially when used in conjunction with other countries, can be used to defend Ukraine against Russian advances in sovereign territory, particularly in the east. “Munitions provided by the United States to Ukraine will significantly support its defense,” they said.
of washington post This is the first report on the policy change.
“Russia is attacking the Ukrainian front in waves in the east despite casualties,” a US official told the outlet.
“So the Ukrainians are clearly suffering losses, and many more towns and cities are at risk of collapse. These mines were created specifically to combat exactly this.”
The official added that Ukraine had promised not to deploy landmines in populated areas.
In June 2022, just four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the 81-year-old Biden rescinded a Trump-era policy that allowed the U.S. military to build and deploy antipersonnel mines anywhere in the world.
“President Biden is committed to continuing the United States' role as a world leader in mitigating the harmful effects of antipersonnel mines around the world,” White House National Security Council Adrian Watson said in a statement at the time. said.
Watson cited the “devastating impact of anti-personnel landmines” in Russia's war against Ukraine, noting that this defensive weapon would only be equipped for use on the Korean peninsula.
In 2020, Biden criticized then-President Donald Trump for supporting the strategic use of landmines to counter U.S. adversaries such as Russia and China.
“The Trump administration's reversal of years of well-considered decisions by Democratic and Republican presidents to curtail landmine use is yet another act of recklessness.” Mr. Biden said: On the 2020 campaign trail.
“It would put more civilians at risk of being injured by unexploded landmines, which is unnecessary from a military point of view,” he argued.
As president, Biden had prohibited Ukraine from using U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles to attack targets inside Russian territory before ultimately changing course.
U.S. officials said the mines would be limited to Ukrainian territory and were expected to primarily strengthen defenses in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have made significant advances in recent months.
