DISINFO: Ukraine violates the Ottawa Convention
SUMMARY
The 36th brigade of the Ukrainian marines violates the Ottawa Convention. Fresh photographs on the internet from the mine-explosive charges held by the 36th brigade, completely refute denials of the non-use of antipersonnel mines. In these photographs, we can perfectly distinguish the land mines. These mines explode not only at the training ground of the 36th brigade but also cause tragedies among civilians in Donbas.
RESPONSE
A recurring narrative about the war in Ukraine. Similar publications appeared in Russian media after Ukrainian marines took part in a routine mine safety exercise for young commanders. During the training, the officers were reminded of the basic rules for handling explosive objects, and they conducted practical exercises with examples of the performance of combat missions by a demining group. There was no "mining with anti-personnel mines" of the territories of Donbas during the classes - these were military exercises for young officers. The Ottawa Convention, adopted in September 1997, prohibits the production and use of anti-personnel mines and also obliges signatories to dispose of accumulated stocks of these weapons. Ukraine signed the document in February 1999 and ratified the convention on May 18, 2005. Since then, as part of fulfilling its obligations under the Ottawa Convention, Ukraine has destroyed more than 3 million banned anti-personnel mines. Moreover, Ukraine has not been producing or using anti-personnel mines for a long time, and all the mines inherited from Soviet times are kept under national and international control. At the moment, Ukraine has already destroyed all anti-personnel mines such as PMN, POM-2, POMZ, PMD-6. At the same time, it is Russia and the militants of the "LPNR" groups that actively use prohibited weapons, mining the territory of Donbas. This fact was repeatedly recorded by observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission.