Ukraine: banned anti-personnel mines litter territory occupied by Russian forces

New briefing suggests that anti-personnel mines may have been used throughout the formerly Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine

Investigation needed into possible war crimes and international community must provide demining support to Ukraine

‘In every region in Ukraine that was formerly occupied by Russia, we have seen evidence of civilians killed and injured by anti-personnel mines’ - Patrick Thompson

The use of anti-personnel landmines - which litter territories in Ukraine formerly and currently occupied by Russian forces - continue to pose a deadly threat to civilians and must be subject to an independent investigation, Amnesty International said in a new seven-page briefing (Ukraine/Russia: the use of anti-personnel mines in occupied residential areas) today.

Based on interviews with 15 victims of anti-personnel mines in Ukraine carried out in May, as well as interviews with international and national demining organisations, Amnesty found evidence that Russian forces deployed anti-personnel mines in or near residential areas in Kherson, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv oblasts.

The evidence suggests that anti-personnel mines may have been used throughout the formerly Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, and as such use would constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law, amounting to a war crime if carried out with intent. 

In March 2022, Russian forces evicted Oleksandr* (not his real name) and his mother from their flat in Snihurivka, in the region of Mykolaiv, with a Russian military unit taking over the entire apartment block until it was forced to withdraw following fierce fighting around Snihurivka in November that year. After the Russian retreat, Oleksandr returned to the apartment block to assess how badly it had been damaged. Upon entering the basement, he stepped on a disguised PFM-1 anti-personnel mine that had been placed under wooden planks. The mine exploded, Oleksandr fell and landed on other disguised mines that had apparently been deliberately placed to injure or kill anyone entering the building. He lost both his left leg and arm in the incident. 

According to Landmine Monitor 2023, Ukraine recorded 608 landmine casualties in 2022, more than any country in the world bar Syria. 

Anti-personnel mines have been used regularly in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and to a lesser extent since 2014. There was a noticeable spike in civilian casualties following the Russian retreat from Mykolaiv, Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts in late 2022, as civilians returned to their houses, homesteads and farms.

Amnesty has said that it is essential that the use of anti-personnel mines in Ukraine is investigated by competent, fair, independent and impartial national and international authorities in order to ascertain the facts and ensure individual responsibility for possible perpetrators of war crimes. Ukraine has itself pledged to investigate its own forces’ use of anti-personnel mines. Amnesty wrote to the Ukrainian government on 12 June asking for an update on the progress of any investigation into its forces’ use of anti-personnel mines; at the time of writing no response had been received.

Patrick Thompson, Amnesty International’s Ukraine Researcher, said:

“Mines are scattered across the territory of Ukraine previously and currently occupied by Russian troops. 

“Some have been deliberately placed in civilian homes where they maim and kill.

“In every region in Ukraine that was formerly occupied by Russia, we have seen evidence of civilians killed and injured by anti-personnel mines left behind by Russian forces.

“There must be an effective investigation into all such incidents as possible war crimes.

“The international community must commit to sustained financial and technical assistance to help Ukraine get rid of a danger that continues to wreck lives and livelihoods.

“Countries must uphold the ban on the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines worldwide.”