Butterfly mines: ‘Soviet death game’ blocks evacuation of civilians to Ukraine

By David Hambling

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, officials in Kyiv have accused Moscow of dropping PFM-1 personnel from the air. Also known as “butterfly mines”, “petals”, “green parrots” or even “Soviet death toys”, these small plastic mines, each weighing less than 55 grams, are scattered by the thousands over large areas. There are reports that they were thrown into the humanitarian corridors to block the evacuation of Mariupol. These mines originate in the United States and were originally intended to block supply convoys. Today they are known as the leading cause of child mutilation.

PFM-1 does not look like a mine. It is plastic, 12.5 cm wide and 2.5 cm high, and has asymmetrical wings to land gently on the ground. Inside its soft plastic there is a detonator and a quantity of liquid explosive. The detonator is activated by the cumulative deformation of the plastic: either by a single event, such as a vehicle passing over it, or by a series of smaller events, such as being explored with one’s hands.

PFM-1s come in a variety of colors: among them, a fancy green to which they owe their nickname “green parrots”. If you see it on the street, you will easily pass it for a game: a plane or a bird. In Afghanistan, where literally millions of such mines were dropped, children often ran to pick them up and play with them.

“In Afghanistan, my colleagues and I have heard many times that a child picked up a butterfly mine – or the ‘green parrot’, as Afghans call it – and played with it for hours with friends before it exploded,” he said. in an article on PBS, Dr. Gino Strada, an International Committee of the Red Cross surgeon who has treated mine victims in Afghanistan, Cambodia and northern Iraq, in a piece on PBS.

The small amount of explosive and the lack of fragments indicate that the victim of PFM-1 usually survives.

“In less severe cases, two or three fingers are amputated. Very often the explosion causes more damage to the chest and face. Injuries to one or both eyes are very common, causing partial or complete blindness,” Strada said.

It is widely believed that the butterfly mine was designed to attract children. This is not true. As Strada notes, “the shape of the PFM-1 was dictated by the way it works. However, it’s true that its image is appealing to children.”

So how did it come about, and what is the military logic behind a small mine that mutilates instead of killing? The answer lies in the Vietnam War. The PFM-1s were not used against the Vietnamese, but in a military operation in Laos, codenamed “Igloo White”, which lasted from 1968 to 1973.

The goal of Operation Igloo White was to cut off supplies to the Vietcong without moving US troops to Laos, which would extend the war. Thus, a “barrier in the air” was created. In particular, sensors were dropped – a mixture of sound, seismic and magnetic devices – to detect vehicles crossing the border. As soon as their movement was noticed, the area in question was “bombarded” from the air with mines. In this context, various types of mines were developed: such as BLU-43 and BLU-44 (or “Dragontooth”) – plastic mines filled with a small amount of liquid explosive. (The only difference between them was that the BLU-43 disarmed itself after 24 hours, but this condition did not always work properly).

One hundred and twenty Dragontooth mines were packed in one “container”, forty “containers” were a CBU-28 / A cluster bomb. Thus, each bomb dropped 4,800 mines. Each F-4C Phantom dropped several such bombs on a raid, scattering millions of mines on the ground. To this day, they find mines in Laos from that period and neutralize them.

Some sources claim that the mines were intended to destroy truck tires. Others, however, give a different version. Major Anderson testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee: “Clearly this is an anti-personnel mine. If anyone steps on it, it will blow up its leg. If a truck steps on it, its tires will not explode.” Anderson stressed that these small mines acted as a deterrent to the enemy moving his vehicles.

The Russians took the BLU-43s from Southeast Asia to create their own PFM-1 butterfly mine. Their own version is packed in “boxes” of 72 mines, which are dropped by aircraft or helicopters – some PFM-1s are fired with missiles. The Russians used them in mountainous Afghanistan in the 1980s to try to block the Mujahideen supply lines.

Today, Moscow uses them in Ukraine. Some may argue that the military goal is to cut off ammunition supplies to besieged cities – such as Mariupol – but the fact that they are anti-personnel mines suggests that they are being used deliberately to prevent the evacuation of civilians who want to flee. their cities.

Anti-personnel mines are controlled by the Ottawa Convention. However, Russia – like the United States – has not signed the Convention. International Humanitarian Law, however, remains in force. Therefore, the dropping of such mines in residential areas, as well as the use of cluster bombs and artillery fire against civilian installations, will definitely be at the heart of the war crimes investigation after the end of hostilities.

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