The US is expecting Kyiv to use the anti-personnel mines in its eastern part where the Russian troops have made slow and steady progress. However, Ukraine has committed it will not use them in areas populated with its civilians, Reuters quoted officials as saying.
In recent times, the grinding battle has cost Russia heavily, with the Ukrainian side claiming that Moscow suffered its highest number of casualties this week.
However, the unrelenting pressure from Russia, along with shortages in manpower and ammunition on the Ukrainian side, have allowed Putin’s military to seize more territory in the neighbouring country.
According to a US official, the country has provided anti-tank mines to Ukraine throughout its war with Russia, but the latest addition of the anti-personnel mines is aimed at blunting the advance of the ground troops from the other side.
The US mines are quite different from the ones Russia possesses. They are ‘non-persistent’. These mines become inert after a pre-set period and require a battery to detonate. They fail to explode when the battery runs out.
This comes after Ukraine on Tuesday targeted Russian territory with ATACMS missiles from the US. The permission to use them was granted by the outgoing Biden administration on the 1,000th day of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia, on the other hand, said the use of long-range missiles by Ukraine was a clear signal that the West wanted to escalate the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in Ukraine in response to the broader range of conventional attacks, according to Reuters.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)