Inside the perilous world of illicit "Butterfly Mines"
Russians, and to a lesser extent Ukrainians, are deploying anti-personnel mines, despite their prohibition under the Ottawa Treaty, on a significant scale. Moreover, they are making these mines even more hazardous with modifications to the PFM-1 butterfly mines. Here’s an explanation of why and how they are doing so.
It is important to note that Russia never signed the Ottawa Treaty, while Ukraine signed on 24 February 1999, later ratifying it on 27 December 2005. In hindsight, this has proven to be a mistake, as the decommissioned stockpiles of anti-personnel mines could have greatly bolstered Ukraine’s defensive capabilities against Russia. Currently, Ukrainians are manufacturing makeshift anti-personnel mines known as "Gingerbread", but these cannot replace the extensive stockpiles accumulated over decades.
Russians do not face this issue and may still possess stockpiles from the Soviet era. The Russian standard for anti-personnel mines deployed by multiple rocket launcher systems includes the PFM-1 mines. Here and now, however, remote-controlled ground rovers or drones are also utilised to distribute them over territories.
PFM-1 mines are challenging to detect unaided, and Russians have begun camouflaging them by covering them with soil or attaching leaves or forest debris using, for instance, double-sided tape. Identifying such mines, as shown in the pictures above, is almost impossible.
PFM-1 mines - "Butterfly mines" from the East
Anti-personnel mines PFM-1, also known as "green parrot" in NATO codes and often referred to as "butterfly mines," are a Soviet-era replica of American BLU-43 mines.
These mines are quite small, measuring approximately 13 cm in length, less than 2 cm in width, and about 5 cm in height, with a weight of about 85 grams, of which 35 grams are liquid explosive material VS6-D or VS-60D. They are triggered by a pressure igniter MVDM/VGM-572, requiring only 5 kg of pressure to detonate. In due time, a PFM-1S mine with an integrated self-destruct mechanism was developed, designed to detonate the mine 40 hours after activation.
This is an extremely dangerous mine that may not be fatal to an adult but is likely to result in the loss of a foot or leg. Such injuries necessitate the intervention of fellow soldiers to aid the injured, which adversely affects morale and combat effectiveness.
