Umm, armies do not plant minefields in their own rear.
And since the Russians were in defensive fortifications to begin with, and hadn’t ventured out past them...
Yes they do. Russia did this is been well known.
I am no Putin supporter. We’re he to die a painful death, that’d be okay, but I asked the same question you reference. Who plants minefields behind their positions? Maybe if the Russians were trying to lure the Ukies into the mines and then stop and bring them under fire. Not likely.
armies do not plant minefields in their own rear.
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Western armies do not plant minefields in their own rear. Russia does things differently.
Its hard to explain in words, but here there are 3 separate lines of defense - each further south than the preceding one.
Each line has trenches, bunkers, dugouts connected at various points along a field or tree line. In front of each trench network are minefields, in front of that dragons teeth, mine fields, then anti-tank ditches, and in front of that minefields.
If the enemy breaches all the obstacles of the first line, then the defenders have to fall back toward the second line which is built like the first. So the retreating troops have to cross their own mine fields to get to safety.
This is trench warfare, not like anything seen since WWI-WWII.
If the enemy is mobile and pushes hard, the retreating troops have no tine to negotiate safe passage without putting the second line at risk.
In the Iraqi-Iran war, the Iranians used children on motorbikes to clear minefields; here, Russian commanders uses his trucks and armor to do the same job. Remember Russians consider troops & equipment expendable ...
You're right, of course!
Never in the history of modern warfare has a soldier accidentally detonated a landmine from his own side. Landmines are always placed where a retreating soldier couldn't possibly detonate them accidentally. Retreats are always very orderly matters. There is no such thing as a "rout."
There is also no such thing as "friendly fire." How, after all, could anyone be so stupid or careless as to fire upon members of his own side!?
Finally: No one ever makes mistakes. Especially the Russian military. All those reports about their 100-km columns of tanks getting stuck and otherwise falling apart during the failed attempt by Putin's forces to capture Kyev were pure fiction.
Regards,
Business Insider isn’t pro-Ukraine.