MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. The Russian Guard’s field engineers defused over 600 Lepestok anti-personnel land mines in the Kharkov Region in eastern Ukraine, its press office told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Russian Guard’s forces uncovered and eliminated about 640 PFM-1S ‘Lepestok’ anti-personnel high explosive mines in the Kharkov Region. The mines could have inflicted irreparable damage on both troops and civilians," the statement says.

The Russian National Guard’s units also exposed a new war crime by Ukrainian nationalists. The radicals used an Uragan multiple launch rocket system to lay minefields in a remote mode near populated areas in the Kharkov Region, it said.

"A PFM-1S anti-personnel high explosive mine weighing just 80 grams frequently does not kill but cripples an individual. The mine’s small size complicates its search, especially in the dense grass. The Russian Guard’s field engineers are displaying their utmost professional skills to defuse Lepestok mines," the press office emphasized.

A Russian Guard engineer squad has eliminated over 200 explosive devices in the Kharkov Region over the month. The field engineers’ successful work has helped save hundreds of civilian lives on the territories liberated from the Ukrainian nationalists, the press office said.