DONETSK, August 3. /TASS/. The number of civilians injured by Lepestok (Petal) anti-personnel land mines, with which Ukrainian forces have been shelling the cities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has risen to 16, the DPR mission to the Joint Center for Ceasefire Control and Coordination (JCCC) said on Wednesday.
"As of 3.30 p.m. on August 3, the republic has already recorded 16 cases when civilians, including a child, were blown up [after stepping] on PFM-1 Lepestok mines," the DPR mission wrote on its Telegram channel.
On Tuesday, the DPR said that eleven civilians had been injured by those land mines.
The PMF-1 Lepestok (Petal) is an antipersonnel pressure-type landmine, which can be deployed remotely by rocket artillery. The body of a mine is made of plastic in colors which make them extremely difficult to detect. The mines are extremely dangerous for civilians as their unusual shape makes it difficult to see a dangerous object.
In May 2005, Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. However, Ukrainian forces have recently been shelling DPR cities with Lepestok mines almost every day.