Anti-tanks mines are playing a key role in the Russian defensive tactics against the Ukrainian offensive to regain captured territory, the UK Defense Ministry said in a Tuesday morning intelligence update.
"In recent weeks, Russia has prioritized and refined tactics aimed at slowing Ukrainian armored counter-offensive operations in southern Ukraine," said the UK Defense Ministry. "The core of this approach has been Russia’s very heavy use of anti-tank mines. In some areas, the density of its minefields indicates that it has likely used many more mines than laid down in its military doctrine."
The Ukrainian National Resistance Center said that Russian forces, in particular in the Melitopol region, were installing minefields with specialized equipment.
"The tracked minelayer GMZ-3, which mines the ground at a speed of 208 units per minute, has already been recorded more than once in the fields near Melitopol," said the government center. "These actions on the part of the occupying forces once again endanger the lives of civilians, in particular, the movement of special equipment such as harvesters for cultivating fields."
Both Russia and Ukraine have used mines throughout the war
Both sides have made extensive use of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines over the course of the war. On Tuesday the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that its sappers had neutralized 97,981 mines and other explosives since the beginning of 2023. From June 24 until June 30 alone, sappers managed to destroy 1,431 explosives.
"Sapper units continue to work in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Kyiv regions and other liberated regions of Ukraine for the prompt disposal of dangerous gifts left by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's army on our lands," said the ministry.
The UK Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian armor impeded by mines have been subject to attacks by suicide drones, attack helicopters and artillery. Videos on social media show damaged or distressed Ukrainian armor being targeted by Lancet drones and Kamov Ka-52 Alligator helicopters.
"Although Russia has achieved some success with this approach in the early stages of Ukraine’s counter-offensive, its forces continue to suffer from key weaknesses, especially overstretched units and a shortage of artillery munitions," said the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
Russian mercenary Telegram channels have repeatedly complained about the inactivity of artillery batteries along the front.