Butterfly Mines:
The UK Ministry of Defence, in its intelligence assessment of the ongoing war in Ukraine, has and sounded an alarm on the possible use of PFM-1 series ‘Butterfly Mines’ by the Russian military in Donetsk and Kramatorsk.
- The PFM-1 and PFM-1S are two kinds of anti-personnel landmines that are commonly referred to as ‘Butterfly mines’ or ‘Green Parrots’.
- These names are derived from the shape and colour of the mines.
- The main difference between the PFM-1 and PFM-1S mine is that the latter comes with a self destruction mechanism which gets activated within one to 40 hours.
- The ‘Butterfly mine’ has earned a reputation for being particularly attractive to children because it looks like a coloured toy.
- It is very sensitive to touch and just the act of picking it up can set it off.
- Because of the relatively lesser explosive packed in this small mine, it often injures and maims the handler rather than killing them.
- These mines are also difficult to detect because they are made of plastic and can evade metal detectors.
