After leaving the Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention (Ottawa Convention), Poland plans to mine the borders to Russia and Belarus. The Polish Ministry of Defense sees no alternative, in light of current events.
Comments
Log in with your Bluesky account to leave a comment
Sadly, this seems prudent. Europe needs to become an indigestible porcupine, whilst Vladimir Putin slowly withers and is either overthrown or dies of old age.
There is no alternative with an an enemy who doesn't give a flying fuck about international conventions and mines are the mest effective way to slow or stop an enemy advance.
Mines stop nothing, Russia invades with oligarchal purchasing, east german spy tactics and drone flying strikes not cars... mines arw stupid in modern wars, and of course war is a metaphor for making humans look as stupid as possible so we do not advance, let's advance, freeze their funding now!
Really? Then you haven't payed attention to the war. Mines have destroyed an awful lot of Russian equipment as in any other war and are even more now since they can be deployed by drones as well. Mines will continue to be one of the best ways of stopping and slowing down an enemy.
Have you been there? Did you know war has been economic as Russia is a team of oligarch billionaires allied with Chinese Billionaires? It is digital as all companies and governments report being successfully hacked by Russian agencies. It is Political as even the USA is a puppet dictatorship.
They could care less about the mines in their private jets, but innocent civilians say otherwise, all "sides" of anything. Also, it may seem hyperbolic to say "all" companies but do look it up, it is indeed more accurate to say all rather than a number at this point due to the ease over decades.
There are no innocents in a country like Russia who invades other countries like Ukraine for no other reason than to slaughter Ukrainians. Mine baby mine, mine all boarders to that fucking mordor of a country that is Russia.
NO ALTERNATIVE TO LAND MINING !!!
Unbelievable nasty war-mongering stupidity. . .
Some armament's oligarch must have Poland's government by the short and curlies!
This is just sickening. Nevermind humans, how many animals are killed with these landmines. Humans deserve to die if they are behind such a primitive, destructive weapon & claim there is no alternative.
Get over yourself! What in your resume makes you an expert on warfare? Many who do have this expertise argue these countries should not abandon the Ottawa Treaty. Innocent civilians always pay the heaviest price when landmines are used so it seems counter-productive to use landmines for "security."
U forget the basic principle of protecting your civilians from an invading russisn army which has proven itself absolutely 💯 incapable of following rules of war, in ALL CONFLICTS it started including WW2. Asknthe, Syrians, the Georgians and now the Ukrainians. As for civilian victims,it does sucks
No, I didn't forget anything. This is my position on use of landmines & others who are experts in the field of military strategy feel the same way. That's why the Ottawa Treaty exists in the first place.
The alternative is what happens to Ukraine. All fault lies to fascist barbarians like the ruZZians. The rest of Europe does not need mines between them, it is only when bordering towards cancer regimes, that protection like this is necessary for peace.
There were even talks about Ukraine, or part of Ukraine, becoming part of Poland, but pretty much nobody here would want this for a number of reasons, nevermind a territory full of people who had been fed hostile propaganda for years. They could just be their own country though.
When Poland tried to occupy parts of Ukraine in the past, it didn’t end well for their population settled there. Just like in Palestine, locals will always fight back, using every method on their hands, including executions of civilians.
Lviv was founded by Ukranians, mostly controlled by Poles throughout history.
Wrocław was founded by (possibly) Czechs, mostly controlled by Germans. What does it matter now? All borders are disputable.
Finland most likely leaving the treaty as well. The Finnish defense ministry report is soon ready and it will probably recommend that Finland should leave the treaty.
You can not follow the rules when dealing with Russia because Russia does not follow the rules. Simple logic. Stop demanding that this is a war with rules. It is not. Putin has no rules, Trump has no rules. Let the games begin.
Although mines are evil, mining a border to the Great Evil and his Evil Assistant might be an acceptable exception. This isn’t a minefield disguised as farmland.
The fact that Poland borders Russia at all is the proof that Russia will do anything to take more land from Europe and Poland is right to be concerned.
A country must defend itself when the red deviled orcs come knocking. Poland will be ready! All countries bordering Russia must be ready! Russia heed the warning!
In 1939, France built an entire line of defense along the German border to prevent a Nazi invasion. They went through Belgium, which was neutral… Regardless of Lithuania’s intentions, it might be worth considering as well.
Putin has the green light from America to rape and pillage any country “that used to be part of the Russian empire, and Putin wants it back, really bad”.
We need to enact article X.1 of the Non-Proliferation of Nukes Treaty in light of the "extraordinary events" of the US President calling for the annexation of our country. We need to follow Poland and get out of the conventions on landmines + cluster munitions. @mark-carney.bsky.social
They should all make their borders even more heavily mined than the N/S Korean border (currently the most heavily mined place on Earth, as far as I am aware).
These countries (well, the Baltics at least) will need that to buy time in case of future Russian aggression against them.
You mean that little shit chunk to the north is Russian? Well, I think Lithuania just needs to absorb that fucker. Putin won't mind. That's what he would do.
Anyone who doesn't think Trump in wanting to start WWIII is not paying attention. The entire free world is revisiting, reorganizing, and redefining their national defense and their military strategy.
Scary times.
Poland should acquire nuclear weapons with all haste- as should any country that doesn't want to be invaded. Ukraine is a cautionary tale- non nuclear countries are fair game for scum like Putin and Dump.
Think Dump would be talking tough about annexing Canada if they had a Force de Frappe?
Joining the Ottawa Treaty was a really stupid move by Finland. But every cloud has a silver lining. It forced Finland to invent the jumping buddy mine, which clears far more space on the battlefield than a single anti-personnel mine.
Lady Dianna was very active (and very actively exploited by media) in promoting this convention but I argued that it was ill-conceived as mines could be effective "peacekeepers".
Now that the narrative has changed I find it amusing that her link to this issue has been heavily airbrushed out.
No, we all need to be taking drastic measures to stop this. It's like groundhog day, everyday they take more rights, more territory, more laws that have no right to be in existence.
Or offer it to Trump as the 51st state, on condition of American assistance to defeat Putin. Rename it Trumpgrad or something, because nobody remembers Kalinin anyway. His name on the world map would be the ultimate offer to a vain narcissist. Or even "St. Donaldsburg" ...
Possibly all of them, depending on how much territory Trump is willing to assist in liberating. There are lots of little towns and districts named after crummy Soviet politicians. Why go after Greenland when Novaya Zemlya is right there, for instance?
mines will delay Russia for few weeks. The only solution is nukes. I also lived the times of removing the nukes from Ukraine after given security guarantee from USA 🤥
I don't know who to trust. Ukraine surrendered its nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees from two nations, Russia and the US, which proved to be valueless.
It is sad to see the fate of a nation fades away infront of their eyes/our eyes because of a miscalculation/misgudgment. Territory loss, brave men die, national resources and treasures loss.
Seems like time for Europe to deal with the threat posed by Kaliningrad. Maybe blockade it, but offer Kaliningrad residents EU citizenship and residency rights if they renounce all loyalty to Russia? (Those who don’t to be interned and deported back to mainland Russia ASAP.)
As a pole, this really isn't so simple. I think them being their own country would be the best solution. I wouldn't want them in EU because they had been fed Kremlin propaganda for years, but some trade deals would be ok.
I will defer to you because I am not as close and certainly not to the inhabitants of Kaliningrad. However, I have a suspicion that given an opportunity to be Europeans or Russians, most would choose European. But I could be wrong.
I would point out that millions of ethnic Russians have chosen to be Ukrainians and not Russians, even to the point of abandoning Russian as their primary language in favor of Ukrainian. People should be given the choice.
I’m not sure how viable Kaliningrad would be as an independent state. It’s quite small and doesn’t have many resources. And Russia would put great pressure on it. It’s probably better to be part of larger, better established states.
Comments
Antipersonnel mines will slow them down.
(Gotta get our revenge for WW2)
Why have a special vehicle dedicated only to anti-tank mining if you were not going to use them?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baobab-K
Unbelievable nasty war-mongering stupidity. . .
Some armament's oligarch must have Poland's government by the short and curlies!
Every Russian soldier that steps towards the West must lose their legs
Kennel the rabid Russian dog in its own madness
Kingdom it is not for ages ;)
Also most of us are fine with our borders as they are, just fyi.
By the same logic, Siberia, Tatarstan, or Chechnya aren’t russia either.
"All borders are accidents of history"
Lviv was founded by Ukranians, mostly controlled by Poles throughout history.
Wrocław was founded by (possibly) Czechs, mostly controlled by Germans. What does it matter now? All borders are disputable.
'Front toward Russia'
https://www.euronews.com/2025/03/18/poland-and-baltic-states-want-to-exit-landmine-treaty-over-russias-military-threat
However, mining border, very specific and designated, visible place, is of much less risk.
Unlike mining "random" places without warnings.
My concern is for immigramts being shoved in by Belarusian army. Instead of getting pushed at barbed wire, may be treated as mine-cattle -_-
Oh yeah, Kaliningrad
Putin is responsible.
https://ildu.com.ua/
Not tell me, do you see any country that the RuSSians can use to do a flanking attack?
Oh, and doing it by sea would be a bad idea. Especially since all of their LST were build in Poland more then 35 years ago.
These countries (well, the Baltics at least) will need that to buy time in case of future Russian aggression against them.
👍🏼
Scary times.
Let us remember to call on St. John Paul II for help in defeating the new Russian bear
I will never forget seeing the Mass he said in Poland 🇵🇱
Lech Walesa & Solidarity lit the fire that burned the iron curtain down
Putin should remember https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50821546
Knock it out of the park, Poland!!
Think Dump would be talking tough about annexing Canada if they had a Force de Frappe?
Modern mitigations including self-deactivation, remote deactivation, etc. so do not need to be a hazard for decades after the conflict ends.
In addition to conventional weaponry they should be stockpiling drones.
Now that the narrative has changed I find it amusing that her link to this issue has been heavily airbrushed out.
mines will delay Russia for few weeks. The only solution is nukes. I also lived the times of removing the nukes from Ukraine after given security guarantee from USA 🤥
But who are we supposed to trust? Russia ? 😀
and why the security guarantee is needed ? 😀
Many Ukranians speak Russian, it's not really connected to their ethnicity/background etc as far as I understand.
Belarusians also have a language, but speak mostly Russian.