Investigate Use of Antipersonnel Mines Left after Russian Occupation As Possible War Crimes

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 a prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation, Amnesty International said in a public statement released today.

According to Landmine Monitor 2023, Ukraine recorded 608 landmine casualties in 2022, more than any country in the world bar Syria. Data gathered by humanitarian mine clearance organizations working in Ukraine shows most casualties come from anti-personnel mines, which are inherently indiscriminate weapons, and as such prohibited by international humanitarian law.

“Mines are scattered across the territory of Ukraine previously and currently occupied by Russian troops. They are a daily, deadly threat to civilians. Some have been deliberately placed in civilian homes where they maim and kill,” said Patrick Thompson, Ukraine Researcher at Amnesty International.

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

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.

In March 2022, Russian forces evicted Oleksandr* (not his real name) and his mother from their flat in Snihurivka, in the region of Mykolaiv. A Russian military unit took over the entire apartment block until it was forced to withdraw following fierce fighting around Snihurivka in November 2022.

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, had been deliberately placed to injure or kill anyone entering the building. He lost both his left leg and arm in the incident.

Despite the horrific episode, his story is not unique. Amnesty International researchers documented other incidents of Russian forces laying anti-personnel mines in residential areas in Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts.

“The deminers working to clear Ukraine of this threat are carrying out painstaking, dangerous work every day. While the scale of the problem is undeniably huge, the biggest obstacle to clearing Ukraine of landmines is Russia’s ongoing aggression,” Patrick Thompson said.

“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.”

Ukraine has itself pledged to investigate its own forces’ use of anti-personnel mines.

Anti-personnel mines deployed today will continue to impact civilians long into the future.

“Countries must uphold the ban on the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines worldwide. There must be an end to the use of such indiscriminate weapons,” Patrick Thompson said.

BACKGROUND

Amnesty International wrote to the Government of Ukraine on 12 June 2024 asking for a comment on the progress of the investigation into the Ukrainian forces’ use of anti-personnel mines, and at the time of writing no response has been received.