Russian forces are coming? Five NATO countries urgently withdraw, building the first line of defense
October 7th report, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, five NATO countries, announced their withdrawal from the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty, deciding to build a 2000-mile mine defense line along the border areas adjacent to Russia and Belarus.
Since the treaty came into effect in 1997, it has prohibited signatory countries from using anti-personnel mines. The collective withdrawal of these five countries marks that the moral high ground is no longer important, not being attacked is the top priority.
This move is not only a direct response to the experience on the Ukrainian battlefield, but also reflects these countries' high alertness to the possibility of Russian forces entering NATO.
Although there is currently no public evidence indicating that Russia is about to launch a new western front offensive, this series of defensive actions show that NATO's eastern wing countries have begun to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
The process of the Ukraine war provided a model for this minefield.
From the initial use of Soviet-legacy anti-tank mines by the Ukrainian army to stop the Russian southward advance, to the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer of 2023 being halted by large-scale minefields, mines have shown extremely strong defensive effectiveness on the modern battlefield.
This low-technology weapon, which is cheap, durable, and can be deployed quickly, has defeated the NATO operational concept emphasizing mobility and joint operations, changing the entire war situation.
This tactical shift has deeply shocked the three Baltic states and Finland, Poland.
They generally believe that when facing a potential Russian ground attack, if they are still banned from using anti-personnel mines, they will lose the most critical asymmetric defense line.
The Finnish border with Russia is as long as 1300 kilometers, and both Estonia and Latvia lack natural barriers. These countries cannot rely on strategic depth, and can only build a deterrent belt through dense mining, trying to delay the enemy's advance rhythm and gain response time for their own troops.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845315676788736/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.