President Biden has given the Pentagon the green light to ship antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine — a policy the commander in chief once called “reckless.”
“While we have provided anti-tank mines throughout the conflict, the Biden-Harris Administration will soon provide Ukraine with non-persistent antipersonnel land mines (APLs) as well,” a US official told The Post.
The official noted that the explosive devices differ from the ones Russia is using because they become “inert after a pre-set period of time (anywhere from 4 hours to 2 weeks)” and will not detonate when their battery power runs out, theoretically making them less of a long-term danger to civilians.
The shift in policy with land mines — which comes days after the Biden-Harris administration authorized Ukraine to use American-made long-range missiles to strike Russia’s Kursk region — is needed to stymie recent Russian advances against the Ukrainian front lines, according to the official.
“APLs, which can be rapidly deployed, are designed to blunt the advances of ground forces, and, as such, will significantly support Ukraine’s defense against Russian advances in its sovereign territory, particularly in the east, especially when used in concert with the other munitions that the United States provides Ukraine,” they said.
The Washington Post first reported on the policy change.
“Russia is attacking Ukrainian lines in the east with waves of troops, regardless of the casualties that they’re suffering,” a US official told outlet.
“So the Ukrainians are obviously taking losses, and more towns and cities are at risk of falling. These mines were made specifically to combat exactly this.”
The official added that Ukraine had pledged to not deploy the mines in densely populated areas.
In June 2022 – just four months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – Biden, 81, rolled back a Trump-era policy allowing the US military to produce and deploy anti-personnel landmines anywhere in the world.
“President Biden is committed to continuing the United States’ role as the world’s leader in mitigating the harmful consequences of anti-personnel landmines worldwide,” White House National Security Council Adrienne Watson said in a statement at the time.
Watson cited the “devastating impact that anti-personnel landmines” have had in Russia’s war against Ukraine – noting that the defensive weapon would only be furnished for use in the Korean Peninsula.
In 2020, Biden criticized then-President Donald Trump for backing the strategic use of land mines to counter US adversaries, such as Russia and China.
“The Trump administration’s reversal of years of considered decisions by Democratic and Republican presidents to curtail the use of landmines is another reckless act,” Biden said on the 2020 campaign trail.
“It will put more civilians at risk of being injured by unexploded mines, and is unnecessary from a military perspective,” he argued.
As president, Biden previously barred Ukraine from using US-provided ATACMS missiles to hit targets inside Russian territory before ultimately reversing course.
US officials said the land mines would be limited to use on Ukrainian territory, and are expected to primarily bolster defenses in eastern parts of the country where Russian troops have made substantial advances in recent months.
