by the Mark StoneAmerican Correspondent

The decision to provide Ukraine with a tranche of mines is indicative of a few things.

The type of landmines being supplied indicates the type of war being fought.

This is infantry warfare. Russia is deploying waves of troops regardless of the casualty rate: men on the battlefield, literally boots on the ground in large numbers, including now 10,000 North Korean troops.

This reflects both the human toll Putin is willing to allow but also the desperate nature of the fighting at the moment.

The long front line in eastern Ukraine has shifted westward as Russia gains additional leverage with a seemingly endless supply of manpower (with the help of North Korea).

Anti-personnel mines are a controversial solution to slow this progress. Bluntly, they can kill and injure large numbers of soldiers on the battlefield.

Gun control groups are troubled by the announcement, given the legacy of threats to civilians. But the U.S. Defense Department insists the type of mines it is supplying are “smarter” than the improvised mines the Ukrainians are now using.

They are “persistent,” becoming inactive after a predetermined amount of time (anywhere from four hours to two weeks). They are electrically fused and require battery power to detonate. Once the battery is dead, officials say, they won’t detonate.

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