A Ukrainian soldier, Artyom, a 36-year-old soldier from Ukraine's 108th Territorial Defence Brigade, describes the terrifying nature of minefields in the Donbas city of Bakhmut. He explains that Russian rockets have scattered small anti-personnel mines across a field, causing leg amputations and injuries. Artyom, a trained sapper, believes that Russian forces can plant new mines in areas already liberated and cleared by Ukrainian forces. As Ukraine's counterattack has not achieved the speed and momentum that some had hoped for, some soldiers have blamed Russian minefields for at least part of the delay. The commander of a nine-man sapper squad, Lieutenant Serhii Tyshenko, blames Russian minefields for slowing down the movement of troops. Ukrainian sappers, another nine-man sapper squad, deactivate powerful anti-personnel Claymore mines, which could send shrapnel into infantry or vehicles. Artyom's anger stems from the "sly" mentality behind the act of laying mines and boobytraps, rather than fighting the enemy "man to man." Later, soldiers expressed frustration about a lack of mine-clearing equipment and a shortage of sappers, who had been injured in recent weeks. Artyom showed a large antenna and brought out a laptop to play recordings of recent radio intercepts of Russian mines.
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