KYIV, Ukraine—The Biden administration will authorize Ukraine to employ American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to assist stall Russia's combat gains in the war, according to the United States. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Wednesday that the U.S. and several other Western embassies in Kyiv will remain closed following a warning of a significant Russian aircraft strike on the Ukrainian capital.
Speaking to reporters on a trip to Laos, Austin stated that the adjustment in Washington's policy on anti-personnel land mines for Ukraine is the result of the Russians' shifting tactics.
According to Austin, Russian ground soldiers are leading the advance on the battlefield rather than more protected personnel in armored carriers, therefore Ukraine has "a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians."
Russia's larger army is gradually forcing Ukraine's outnumbered army back in the eastern Donetsk area.
Antipersonnel land mines have long been condemned by charities and campaigners for posing a persistent hazard to people. Austin countered the argument.
“The land mines that we would look to provide them would be land mines that are not persistent, you know, we can control when they would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it far more safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own,” Austin said.
Speaking to reporters on a trip to Laos, Austin stated that the adjustment in Washington's policy on anti-personnel land mines for Ukraine is the result of the Russians' shifting tactics.
According to Austin, Russian ground soldiers are leading the advance on the battlefield rather than more protected personnel in armored carriers, therefore Ukraine has "a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians."
Russia's larger army is gradually forcing Ukraine's outnumbered army back in the eastern Donetsk area.
Antipersonnel land mines have long been condemned by charities and campaigners for posing a persistent hazard to people. Austin countered the argument.
Nonpersistent land mines often require batteries, so they become incapable of detonating over time, making them safer for innocent populations than ones that stay lethal for years.
He mentioned that Ukraine is currently producing its own anti-personnel land mines.
The United States has previously provided Ukraine with antitank land mines. Russia has consistently employed land mines during the conflict, but they do not become inactive over time.
The American diplomatic mission in Kyiv said it had received a warning of a possibly large Russian air strike on the city and would remain closed for the day. It expected a rapid restoration to normal operations.
The Spanish, Italian, and Greek embassies were likewise closed to the public for the day, although the U.K. The government and France confirmed that their embassies were open.
The precautionary shutdown occurred after Russian authorities pledged to respond to Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to strike targets on Russian soil with US-made missiles, which enraged the Kremlin.
Austin's announcement is expected to further vex Russia.
The conflict, which hit its 1,000-day mark on Tuesday, has taken on a new international dimension with the entry of North Korean forces to assist Russia on the battlefield—a fact that US officials say inspired Biden's policy change.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already lowered the bar for utilizing his nuclear arsenal, with the new policy published Tuesday allowing Moscow to respond with nuclear weapons even to a conventional assault on Russia by any nation supported by a nuclear state.
This might involve Ukrainian assaults supported by the United States.
Western officials condemned Russia's decision as an attempt to prevent Ukraine's friends from giving more assistance, but rising tensions weighed on global markets after Ukraine employed American-made ATACMS longer-range missiles for the first time to hit a target inside Russia.
According to Western and Ukrainian sources, Russia has been accumulating powerful long-range missiles, presumably in preparation for an attack on Ukraine's power infrastructure as winter approaches.
According to military analysts, the United States' decision limiting the range beyond which American-made missiles may be fired is unlikely to be a game changer in the conflict, but it may assist degrade Russia's war effort, according to the Institute for the Study of conflict in Washington.
"Ukrainian long-range strikes against military objects within Russia's rear are crucial for degrading Russian military capabilities throughout the theater," according to the statement.
Meanwhile, South Korea reports that North Korea has supplied Russia with new artillery systems. According to the report, North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia's marine and airborne forces units, and some have already begun fighting alongside Russians on the frontlines.
Ukraine launched a nocturnal strike on a plant in Russia's Belgorod area that manufactures cargo drones for the armed forces, according to Andrii Kovalenko, director of Ukraine's Security Council's counterdisinformation department.
He also said Ukraine targeted an arsenal in Russia's Novgorod area, near the town of Kotovo, roughly 680 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The arsenal had artillery ammo and numerous sorts of missiles, he explained.
It was not feasible to independently verify the statements.
