Land Mines on a Timer, Scattered Over a Ukrainian Town

[Nevilledog]

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/08/world/europe/ukraine-russia-land-mines.html?smid=tw-share

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https://archive.ph/DQFkR

BEZRUKY, Ukraine — When Sergiy, a 47-year-old construction worker, got out of bed Sunday morning in this small town in northeastern Ukraine, he discovered a chilling new hazard in a war filled with them: He had woken up in a minefield.

He had heard a rocket land near his home around 1 in the morning but thought little of it. There had been plenty of rockets since Russian forces invaded in late February. The thuds, crumps and blasts had become a cruel but familiar soundtrack to those who stayed behind, along with the acidic smell the weapons left in the air.

But what landed in his yard was a new weapon for the town’s residents to add to their growing lexicon of destruction: they knew the Smerch, the Grad, the Hurricane — and now they were introduced to the PTM-1S land mine, a type of scatterable munition.

“Nobody understood what it was,” said Sergiy, declining to provide his surname out of fear of retribution. The weapons roar in like any rocket, but instead of exploding instantly, they eject up to two dozen mines that explode at intervals, parceling out death in the hours afterward.

*snip*

[Crunchy Frog]

1. I wonder if some of those land mines might eventually end up in Russian towns.

Russia obviously doesn't observe the Geneva Conventions, and they are at war so...

They'd hardly have grounds to complain.

[EndlessWire]

2. There are two treaties

one called the Anti Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, from 1999, and the other called the Convention on Cluster Munitions, from 2010, which prohibit the use of such munitions. Sadly, neither Russia nor the US have ratified either treaty. Ukraine did.

In November 2017, Trump reversed a Bush restriction on use of such munitions, from 2008, which held that by 2018 we would not be using these munitions anymore. There are other details, but as things are right now, we are not committed to abandoning these horrific bombs. We are not manufacturing them anymore, but there is nothing in place that says we won't, either. Both China and Russia are actively designing and building these weapons.

Biden should see to it that we become signatories to these treaties, which most of the civilized world has signed up for.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/15/us-commit-joining-cluster-munitions-ban#

Also,

https://www.unmas.org/en/resources/lawstreaties

https://www.apminebanconvention.org/states-parties-to-the-convention/

Is there any reason for the United States to NOT sign such a treaty? It isn't too late to reverse Trump's reversal, and do the right thing. I don't think that WW3 will hinge on the use of cluster bombs. Maybe someone needs to point this out to Biden, get his attention, and get this straightened out. One of the articles said that something like 27 NATO countries had signed the treaty. There is something about cleaning up your area; this might be a problem, but it's nothing that we can't figure out.

[Piasladic]

3. just when you thought it couldn't get more disgusting...

though it took a lot to outdo that missile with "for the children" on it.