Russia is reportedly using air-dropped butterfly mines in Ukraine that look like plastic toys. These weapons have a long history of harming children — and a surprising origin story that goes back to the U.S.
“It is purely antipersonnel. If a person steps on it, it could blow his foot off. If a truck rolls over it, it won’t blow the tire.” Anderson said the small mines were a deterrent used to prevent the enemy from removing the larger anti-vehicle lines.s from Southeast Asia to create their own PFM-1 butterfly mine. Their version is packed into cassettes of 72 mines and delivered by aircraft or helicopters; there are also versions delivered by rocket warheads.
Now Russia is using them in Ukraine. While some might claim that there is a military objective to prevent besieged cities like Mariupol receiving ammunition and other materiel, the fact that these are specifically antipersonnel mines more indicates that they are being used deliberately to stop the movement of refugees on foot attempting to leave the city., although Russia, like the U.S., is not a signatory to this convention.
In fact, Ukraine did have stocks of PFM-1 mines remaining from Soviet times but as a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty is
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