The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it has evidence that Ukraine has repeatedly used anti-personnel mines, injuring civilians. According to the ministry, Kiev's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention will not have an impact on the battlefield, Reuters reported.
In June, Ukraine announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the production and use of anti-personnel mines. The ministry said that this was a necessary step in view of Russian tactics in their 40-month war. Russia is not a party to the treaty. Ukraine claims that Russia has used anti-personnel mines during the war.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the use of anti-personnel mines by the Kiev regime against civilians is regularly recorded by Russian law enforcement agencies. According to her, Ukraine's decision to withdraw from the Anti-Personnel Mine Convention 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 noted that according to the Ottawa Treaty, withdrawal from the convention during an armed conflict should not take effect before the end of the armed conflict. She pointed out that Ukraine was obliged to destroy all stockpiles of anti-personnel mines back in 2010, but it has not done so.