Russian troops send Ukrainian citizens to MINEFIELDS to find safe passage, Kyiv claims

Russian commanders are forcing Ukrainian civilians to wade through minefields to find safe routes for their troops, a new report says.

Ukraine’s National Resistance Center – an online resource set up by the country’s armed forces to inform civilian resistance groups – said on Monday it had received reports that civilians in parts of the Russian-held Zaporizhia region had been ordered to clear mine-strewn fields dodge to walk

It claimed Russian troops were watching the terrified civilians and retracing their steps to find a way through the deadly maze, but did not name the source of the information, which has yet to be verified.

Since Russian troops invaded on February 24, 2022, large parts of the Ukrainian country have been strewn with mines – up to 40 percent of them, according to Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal.

Both sides are accused of laying mines on Ukrainian territory.

Bomb disposal experts from the HALO Trust clear mines from the former Russian frontline positions in the Myla district on November 17, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine

Antipersonnel mines can maim or kill victims who step on them. Up to 40 percent of Ukraine’s territory is believed to contain mines after nearly a year of war

The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty bans anti-personnel landmines and requires countries to take action to destroy mine stockpiles, engage in mine clearance in conflict zones and provide assistance to victims.

Ukraine signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 24 February 1999 and ratified it on 27 December 2005. Russia has not joined the treaty, but continues to violate international law when it comes to the use of anti-personnel mines, as they indiscriminately target both combatants and civilians.

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At the start of the war, the British Ministry of Defense warned that Russian troops were spreading anti-personnel mines across occupied territories, a move widely condemned by the international community.

However, Human Rights Watch has also informed Ukraine of evidence suggesting that its forces deployed the explosives in civilian areas in and around occupied Izyum.

The city has since been liberated, but many of the dangerous explosives powerful enough to amputate and even kill remain.

“Ukrainian forces appear to have made extensive use of landmines in the Izyum area, causing civilian casualties and posing an ongoing risk,” Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement last month.

“Russian forces have repeatedly used anti-personnel mines and committed atrocities across the country, but that does not justify Ukraine’s use of these banned weapons.”

A response from Ukraine’s foreign ministry said details of the HRW report had been received and investigated, but called on the international community to “put pressure on the Russian Federation to end the criminal war against Ukraine and ending its use of the full spectrum of Russia.” immediately end inhuman weapons.’

Ambulances transport a wounded Ukrainian soldier who stepped on an anti-personnel landmine near the front lines in the Donetsk region on January 29, 2023

The HALO Trust, an NGO specializing in minefield clearance, has been deployed in liberated regions of Ukraine to reduce the risk of minefields to civilians.

More than 650 employees work in the Kiev, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions to remove mines from cities, towns, farms and forests so that local people can live off the land again without putting their lives at risk.

Much of the explosives were embedded in farmland, putting Ukrainian farmers in grave danger and risking a significant drop in food production by 2023.

Daria Zhydkova, a volunteer with the HALO Trust, explained in an interview with Dutch reporters how the mines could pose a threat to civilians and how unexploded ordnance would hinder recovery efforts.

“As the Ukrainian army pushes back the Russians in more and more areas, people can return home. They start repairing their homes, shops and businesses.

“They go into the forest to gather wood and find berries and mushrooms. And they work their land again. All these places must be cleaned. Otherwise, people are at real risk of injury or even death.

“Ukraine can only seriously start reconstruction if these areas are “clean”. Our ultimate goal is to clean everything.”

Pictured is a member of the HALO Trust explaining the mechanics of a mine to Ukrainian demining teams

Members of the HALO Trust are pictured clearing minefields in a forest near Kiev