Ukrainian developers create algorithms to detect explosives from drone imagery. In Kyiv, 13 teams of engineers have built artificial intelligence capable of spotting landmines in drone imagery, a potential breakthrough for demining efforts, the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture reports. 

A game-changing competition

Over two days in Kyiv, the teams worked on training neural networks to automatically detect explosive objects. The competition, part of the second stage of the AI Data Jam, tasked participants with analyzing 8,000 training images and 23,000 test images depicting mine threats.

Mentorship was provided by experts from UADamage, The HALO Trust, and Dropla Tech.

The goal: a mine-free Ukraine, one meter at a time

“What began as an experiment has grown into a full-fledged project with international backing and tangible results,” says Deputy Economy Minister Ihor Bezkaravainyi.

There’s a huge motivation behind such AI lessons: to create a unique product that can help safely clear Ukraine of landmine pollution, leveraging cutting-edge technology without putting lives at risk.

Victory and deployment ahead

The winning team, MineWatch AI, developed the most accurate detection model. They received $2,000 in support from UNDP Ukraine and the Luxembourg government and the opportunity to further develop the system in partnership with professional demining experts.

All models and datasets from the challenge will contribute to refining AI algorithms. After successful testing, the technology is set to be integrated into humanitarian demining operations, speeding up and safeguarding the clearance of Ukraine’s contaminated lands.

Ukraine aims to strengthen the defense of over 3,000 kilometers of its border with Russia and Belarus. Roman Kostenko, Secretary of the Parliament Committee on National Security, says that to achieve this, Kyiv is seeking a temporary suspension of the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines, UkrInform reports. 

The Ottawa Convention bans anti-personnel landmines worldwide. Since 1999, it has drawn 164 countries committed to destroying their mine stockpiles and clearing contaminated land, as mines can cause severe injuries and deaths among civilians. However, given that Ukraine has the right to protect itself, the government temporarily suspended its participation in the treaty.

“Considering the over 3,000 km border with Russia and Belarus, it is necessary to create a minefield at least several dozen kilometers wide, a preventive defense,” Kostenko explains.

Anti-personnel mines are effective, low-cost, and straightforward means of holding positions and creating denial zones for enemy infantry. They can demoralize the adversary and significantly complicate their movements and operations.

Kostenko emphasizes that fortifications without mine barriers are often ineffective.

“The enemy bypasses them. They are not always built in the right places. Fortifications must be guarded or be part of a combined system with mine barriers. One without the other does not work,” he says. 

According to him, the use of anti-personnel mines will allow Ukraine to rapidly defend positions and significantly enhance the country’s defensive capabilities.

Six months ago, Lithuania and Finland also withdrew from the Ottawa Convention. Now, they are preparing to start the domestic production of anti-personnel landmines to supply their militaries and Kyiv. This decision reflects growing European concerns that Russia’s military ambitions may extend beyond Ukraine. China and the US never signed the document.

A wave of covert explosions striking tankers tied to Russian energy exports appears to be the work of Ukrainian special forces, according to a detailed analysis by Tom Sharpe OBE in The Telegraph. While no official confirmation has been issued, the precision and pattern of the attacks strongly suggest a coordinated sabotage campaign.

“Someone – and bluntly, that someone is the Ukrainian special forces – is making highly effective use of these weapons,” Sharpe writes.

Sanctions, oil, and the shadow fleet

Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the West imposed sweeping sanctions and a $60-per-barrel oil price cap to choke off funding for the war. In response, Moscow has leaned on a vast and opaque “shadow fleet” of aging tankers operating under obscure ownership and dubious flags of convenience. These vessels now carry more than 60% of Russia’s crude exports, helping sustain the oil revenues that fund Putin’s war.

Despite sanctions, the fleet continues to operate, with the US, EU, and UK stepping up enforcement through ship sanctions, port bans, and insurance crackdowns—efforts that so far have had limited effect.

Limpet mines: Targeted maritime sabotage

Military analysts and investigators believe the attacks were carried out using limpet mines, specifically Russian-made BPM-1 or BPM-2 models. These mines are designed to be manually attached to ship hulls by divers or delivered via unmanned underwater systems—tools of precision sabotage, not broad sea denial.

Their use indicates a high level of operational expertise, likely involving rebreather diving, manual or sonar-based navigation, and possibly mini-submersible delivery systems.

Sixth incident: Eco Wizard explosion in Ust-Luga

The most recent incident occurred on 6 July, when the Eco Wizard tanker was rocked by two explosions while loading ammonia at the Russian port of Ust-Luga. Though not a direct gas shipment, Sharpe notes that “ammonia is made of natural gas,” making it, in effect, a form of energy export.

This marks the sixth such attack this year. Previous explosions targeted tankers near Libya, Italy, Türkiye, and again in Ust-Luga. Many of the affected vessels had previously anchored near Malta and Libya—regions frequently linked to Russia’s shadow fleet operations.

Legal constraints and the grey zone at sea

Western powers have struggled to interdict the shadow fleet due to legal protections under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which enshrines freedom of navigation. Efforts to board or inspect suspect vessels under environmental or flag-related pretexts have had only limited success.

Sharpe also notes that many of these tankers are now accompanied by Russian warships or warplanes, raising the stakes and making direct intervention politically risky.

Strategic shift in maritime warfare

The suspected use of limpet mines by Ukrainian forces signals a strategic escalation in the maritime dimension of the war. These covert, deniable strikes target the infrastructure sustaining Russia’s war economy—without crossing into open confrontation.

As Sharpe concludes, this is a clear demonstration of “highly effective” unconventional warfare, exploiting vulnerabilities the West has yet to fully address.

Lithuania and Finland are preparing to begin domestic production of anti-personnel landmines next year to supply themselves and Ukraine, according to officials from both NATO member states who spoke to Reuters.

The countries are ready to begin manufacturing once their six-month withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention is complete.

Lithuania shares 274 kilometers (170 miles) of border with Russia and 679 kilometers (421 miles) with Belarus, a key Kremlin’s ally, so they are concerned about the country’s security amid continued Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

“We are going to spend hundreds of millions of euros on anti-tank mines, but also on anti-personnel mines. It will be a significant amount,” Lithuanian Deputy Defense Minister Karolis Aleksa told Reuters. How many? Tens of thousands, possibly more.

Can they actually produce them? “Our national industry will be one of the sources. Our industry can make these,” Aleksa said.

Helsinki had more than 1 million anti-personnel landmines before joining the Ottawa Convention in 2011. They destroyed them all, following the rules. Now they’re rebuilding that capability as Finland’s border with Russia stretches 1,340 kilometers (832 miles)—longer than any other NATO state.

Both countries have concluded the same thing: when your neighbor stockpiles weapons banned by treaties they never signed, you need every defensive option available.

Other Eastern European countries consider mines production amid Russia’s threat

Three additional NATO and European Union states – Poland, Latvia and Estonia – are also exiting the treaty, citing heightened security concerns about Russia due to its war in Ukraine. While these three countries have not announced production plans, officials in Poland and Latvia indicated they could begin manufacturing quickly if necessary, and Estonia views it as a future possibility.

All five NATO countries say they won’t create minefields during peacetime. Instead, they’ll store the mines for rapid deployment if threatened. Poland has already designated zones that could be mined within days as part of future military fortifications along its eastern frontier.

Ukraine has similarly announced its withdrawal from the 1997 Ottawa treaty to better defend against Russia, which is not a party to the agreement.

This decision comes after nearly two decades of compliance since Ukraine joined the treaty in 2005, but the full-scale Russian invasion and Russia’s ongoing use of mines have forced Ukraine to reconsider its position.

Explore further

Ukraine exits global mine ban for self-defense reasons as Russia ignores international law

The Ukrainian government argues that the treaty unfairly restricts its right to self-defense under the UN Charter, especially as Russia cynically employs mines and other weapons without regard for international law. 

Lithuania and Finland plan to supply Ukraine with mines

Vincas Jurgutis, head of Lithuania’s defense industry association, said once production is established, Lithuania would be positioned to supply others including Ukraine.

Finland could also supply landmines to Ukraine, Finnish parliament defence committee chair Heikki Autto said. “It is not only right and our duty to support Ukraine, it is also important for Finland’s own security.”

But here’s the humanitarian concern: Anti-personnel mines detonate when triggered by contact, vibration or tripwires, and can harm civilians as well as combatants. Many remain in the ground long after conflicts conclude.

Anti-mine campaigners have criticized the countries leaving the Ottawa Convention, arguing that reintroducing anti-personnel mine production could be expensive and time-consuming to make fully operational.

Russia’s ambassador to Helsinki said in April that Finland’s decision to quit the Ottawa treaty would create risks only for Finnish residents since its military planned to mine only Finnish territory.

The countries’ governments, however, say any minefields must be marked for post-conflict clearance and regard such munitions as deterrence. “When we have them in storage, that is the best guarantee that they will never have to be used,” Autto said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, a step that follows the Baltic nations and Poland's move to boost their defense as the war rages on in Ukraine.

The 1997 treaty, joined by over 160 countries, bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines in efforts to protect civilians from the scattered explosives that could still injure them long after the conflict is over.

"Russia has never been a party to this convention and uses anti-personnel mines extremely cynically," Zelensky said in justifying the decision. "And not only now, in the war against Ukraine. This is the signature style of Russian killers — to destroy life by all methods at their disposal.

Earlier in March, the Baltic states and Poland announced their intention to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, a significant shift in defense policy that shows how countries near Ukraine are preparing for a potential war in Europe.

Anti-personnel mines are scattered across the battlefield in Ukraine, with soldiers and civilians often losing their feet or limbs due to detonations. Territories liberated by Ukraine since 2022 have been heavily covered with mines, making it extremely difficult and dangerous to clear them. Russia has used more than a dozen variants of anti-personnel mines since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to Human Rights Watch's June report.

In a surprise move that angered Moscow, the Biden administration in 2024 approved the provision of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine. Then Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said it was to help Ukraine stall the Russian advances in the east as the front-line situation deteriorated.

"This is a step that the reality of war has long demanded," lawmaker Roman Kostenko, secretary of the parliament's defense committee, said in the Facebook post announcing a significant move forward in withdrawing from the major mine treaty.

Now that Zelensky signed the decree enacting the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, it will land on the parliament's table, Kostenko said. The dates when the decision will take effect are still unclear.

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The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova

Finland's parliament voted on June 19 to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, citing growing security concerns from Russia's aggressive posture and the threat it poses to the region, Reuters reported.

The vote aligns Finland with its Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, whose parliaments have already approved similar exits from the treaty.

Defending the decision earlier this week, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the security reality along Finland's 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia had changed dramatically since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to TVP.

"The reality in the endgame is that we have as our neighboring country an aggressive, imperialist state called Russia, which itself is not a member of the Ottawa Treaty and which itself uses landmines ruthlessly," Stubb said.

Russia has widely deployed landmines across Ukrainian territory since launching its invasion in 2022, a tactic condemned by human rights organizations and Western governments.

Finland, which joined NATO in 2023, has significantly ramped up its defense posture amid growing concern over potential Russian provocations. The country closed its border with Russia over a year ago, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a "hybrid operation" by directing asylum seekers toward Finnish territory. Helsinki claims such hybrid tactics have intensified since it joined the alliance.

The Finnish Border Guard completed the first 35 kilometers (22 miles) of a planned 200-kilometer (124-mile) fence along its eastern frontier on May 21. The move came amid growing evidence of Russian military infrastructure expansion near the Finnish border.

Finland is "closely monitoring and assessing Russia's activities and intentions," Finland's Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP on May 22.

"We have excellent capabilities to observe Russian operations. As a member of the alliance, Finland holds a strong security position."

Russia's Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said in December 2024 that Moscow must be ready for a potential conflict with NATO within the next decade. Western officials have repeatedly warned of the possibility that Moscow could target NATO members in the coming years.

Diplomacy in crisis: G7 letdowns reveal limits to Western solidarity on Ukraine

KANANASKIS, Canada — The Group of Seven (G7) Leaders’ Summit ended on June 17 with no joint statement in support of Ukraine, no commitments to provide desperately needed U.S. weapons, and no meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump. The Ukrainian delegation headed into the summit,

The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat