Russia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused Ukraine of repeatedly using banned anti-personnel landmines against civilians, alleging that the violations were systematically documented by Russian law enforcement agencies. The accusation comes weeks after Kyiv announced its formal withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, a global treaty banning the use and production of such weapons.
"The use of anti-personnel mines by the Kyiv regime against civilians is regularly recorded by our law enforcement agencies," said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, in a televised briefing. She added that Ukraine's departure from the treaty "fits into the general course of the collective West and its satellites to revise and undermine the international legal system in the field of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation."
Zakharova pointed to Article 20 of the Ottawa Convention, which stipulates that any state's withdrawal cannot take effect until an armed conflict has ended. "The decision to withdraw from the convention comes into force only after the end of the said armed conflict," she said. "We proceed from the fact that this provision is fully applicable to the withdrawal process launched by Ukraine from this mechanism."
She also claimed that Ukraine had already failed to meet its obligations under the treaty even before its exit, alleging that Kyiv was required to destroy its stockpile of anti-personnel landmines by 2010 but had not done so. Ukraine has accused Russia of widespread landmine use throughout the conflict but has not responded to Moscow's latest allegations.
The accusations coincide with a broader trend in Eastern Europe, where multiple NATO members-including Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia-are abandoning the Ottawa Convention in response to perceived threats from Russia. Although Russia is not a signatory to the treaty, its war in Ukraine has prompted a reassessment of the value of landmine deterrence among neighboring states.
Finland and Lithuania, in particular, have announced plans to begin domestic production of anti-personnel landmines in 2025. Lithuanian Deputy Defence Minister Karolis Aleksa told Reuters the country will spend "hundreds of millions of euros" on both anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. "Our national industry will be one of the sources. Our industry can make these," he said.
Finland, which shares a 1,340-km border with Russia, has also emphasized the need for domestic manufacturing. "They are a highly effective and very cost-efficient weapons system," said Heikki Autto, chairman of the Finnish parliamentary defence committee. He confirmed that production could also be used to support Ukraine: "It is not only right and our duty to support Ukraine, it is also important for Finland's own security."
Russia, meanwhile, dismissed Western concerns over its intentions toward NATO states as "Russophobic nonsense." However, its response to Finland's decision to exit the treaty was pointed. Moscow's ambassador to Helsinki warned that the move would "create risks only for residents of Finland," since the military planned to deploy mines solely within Finnish territory.
