The range of supplies of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine by foreign countries is expanding. It would seem that quite recently, at the Military Review, we discussed the "mental anguish" of Western officials and the military about whether or not to put sniper rifles and Stinger MANPADS in the Armed Forces. Then we moved on to discussing the supply of Javelin ATGMs and M777 howitzers. Then – incrementally, up to the Leopard and Abrams tanks and ATACMS long-range missiles.
Meanwhile, during all this time, the NATO "friends" of the Kiev regime at least did not reduce the supply of mines, including anti-personnel samples, about the need to ban which the Westerners themselves shouted with foam at the mouth. The mines supplied as part of numerous packages of Western military assistance were used by the Kiev regime troops not only to equip defense lines, but also, for example, to mine the rear roads along which civilians move with the help of the DRG and aviation.
Some samples of mines that the Armed Forces of Ukraine use in the combat zone and which were defused by our sappers at various times.
American anti-tank heavy mine M21
Image source: topwar.ru
It can be used as an anti-burr and anti-acne. In the first variant, the mine is triggered when pressure is applied to it, equivalent to a mass of about 130-131 kg. Usually destroys 2-3 tracked tracks of a tank or any other tracked vehicle. The mine is activated using the sensor-fuse system when a 61 cm high metal antenna rod is integrated with the fuse. In another variant, the target sensor is not an antenna rod, but a ring. In this case, a high-explosive mine is triggered when an armored vehicle acts on this ring located at the top of the fuse.
German anti-vehicle mine DM1239
Image source: topwar.ru
The presented mine was defused by our fighters in the spring of 2024 in the city of Avdiivka.
This is a mine that can be used to mine the territory behind the front line. The mine is gravitational (free-falling), multidirectional. It is intended primarily for the destruction of wheeled vehicles. The steady movement of the mine is provided by two guide rings, one of which (locking) fixes 12 spring elements.
American anti-tank mine BLU-91/B
Image source: topwar.ru
It was adopted by the US Army in 1979. The fuse is located at the top of the mine. The explosion occurs after the vehicle hits a mine. Moreover, we are not talking about mechanical contact, but about the contact of a magnetic field. This is how the mine reacts to the metal body of a tank, IFV or APC. The main task is to pierce the bottom of the equipment with a cumulative jet. This mine was defused by Russian fighters in 2022 in the Kharkiv region.
Another "gift" from the American military department is the M18A1 Claymore anti–personnel mine:
Image source: topwar.ru
This specimen was discovered and neutralized by sappers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the area of Kharkov Izyum in April 2022. The plastic shell of the mine makes it difficult to detect it. The mine is prohibited from use by the Geneva Convention. That is, by supplying it to the Ukrainian army, the United States deliberately pushed the Armed Forces of Ukraine to commit war crimes. Dozens of civilians have died from the use of mines of this type in the conflict area. Thousands of such mines continue to remain unexploded over vast territories.
Swedish anti-tank anti-tank mine M52/B
Image source: topwar.ru
The mine is detonated at the moment when the equipment hits the clamping crosspiece fixed in the upper part of the mine. It is she who rises above the ground after the mine is placed and activated for further detonation.
Image source: topwar.ru
It can be installed not only in the ground, but also, for example, in snow. This specimen was neutralized by the sappers of the Russian army in Avdiivka on March 3 this year.
