General
What Are Anti-Personnel Mines?
The Biden administration has agreed to send the weapons to Ukraine, despite their reputation for killing and maiming civilians.
President Biden has authorized the delivery of U.S.-made anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, heeding Kyiv’s pleas for military aid to bolster its defenses against the Russian invasion.
For centuries, militaries around the world have relied on land mines as a lethal and cost-effective way to defend territory. Once in place, many of them can stay armed and deadly indefinitely. But for that reason, human rights groups say they pose a grave and indiscriminate threat to civilians, for years or decades after a conflict has ended.
U.S. officials on Wednesday said that they were addressing those concerns by only providing Ukraine with anti-personnel mines that self-destruct after a set amount of time.
Here’s what you need to know:
- What are anti-personnel mines?
- Who is using anti-personnel mines?
- Why are anti-personnel mines controversial?
What are anti-personnel mines?
Anti-personnel mines are small, explosive weapons designed to detonate when a person steps on them, or comes close to them, according to Mine Action Review, a nonprofit that monitors the use of these weapons. Militaries typically deploy mines as defensive weapons, to prevent enemy forces from approaching or overtaking a certain area.
There are many different kinds of anti-personnel mines, and varied ways to distribute them. Some are shaped like hockey pucks, ranging from 3 to 16 inches in diameter, while others are shaped like a cylinder or cone.
