The US decision to provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines expands the use of a weapon that the international community has long condemned because of its danger to innocent civilians. And it reflects another in a long line of American policy shifts on the controversial issue in the past 30 years.
US officials say the mines are needed to help Ukraine stall Russian progress on the battlefield, where Moscow's forces are moving in smaller ground units on the front lines rather than in more heavily protected armored vehicles.
