Finland rethinks banned mines amid Russian military tactics
Finland is among the best-prepared European nations for armed conflict, a necessity stemming from its decades-long policy of neutrality. Now, voices in Finland are emerging regarding the need to reconsider banned weapons in response to Russian tactics in Ukraine.
Finland, which recently joined NATO, boasts a highly developed defence infrastructure in terms of armed forces and civil defence. As noted by Janne Jaakkola, the commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, observing Russia’s tactic of mass infantry assaults, Finland ought to discuss anti-personnel mines.
Finland, along with over 100 other countries, signed and ratified the Ottawa Treaty in 2012, which bans the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and mandates the destruction of existing stocks.
Janne Jaakkola mentioned that the current security environment is drastically different from what it was when Finland joined the convention banning anti-personnel mines. However, he notes that any decision in this regard rests with the government.
Anti-personnel mines — an effective and inexpensive method of securing the front line
The Ottawa Treaty effectively prohibits the use of all anti-personnel mines except for those that can be remotely detonated by radio signal. This presents a significant issue because such requirements greatly increase costs, and for mines to be effective, they must be numerous and inexpensive.
For this reason, various types of pressure or tripwire fuses were commonly used, such as a thin fibre optic cable attached to a tree along a path. The drawback of these solutions is that they remain active for decades after the war, posing a significant threat to civilians.
A classic pressure mine contains several ounces of explosive material, but there are also mines that ascend into the air upon detonator activation. These, mainly variations of the German World War II S-mine, contain several hundred ounces of explosive material inside a steel casing and have a range of up to 100 feet.
Over time, especially in the category of scatterable mines, such as those deployed by multiple rocket launchers, simple self-destruct mechanisms were introduced to enforce self-destruction 48 hours after arming. However, these mechanisms are not entirely reliable.
Anti-personnel mines — enable the defence of an area with significantly smaller forces
A prepared minefield is particularly challenging, especially if supervised by small teams equipped with anti-tank guided missile launchers, snipers, machine guns, or mortars working with drones, creating an exceedingly difficult barrier even in scenarios of significant numerical superiority.
A good example of the effectiveness of mines can be seen in the unsuccessful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region. Attacking under such conditions requires specialised vehicles, which become priority targets, making it practically unfeasible. For this reason, it is standard military tactic to bypass minefields if possible.
