Ukrainian sappers demining in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 12 March 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/SERGEY KOZLOV

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that Ukraine would withdraw from the Ottawa Convention which bans the use, production and stockpiling of anti-personnel landmines.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky said the decision was taken in response to Russia’s continued and “extremely cynical” use of landmines and other banned or controversial weapons, including chemical agents and ballistic missiles.

“Russia has never been a party to this convention and is using anti-personnel mines with utmost cynicism — not only now, in its war against Ukraine, but as a longstanding tactic of destruction,” Zelensky said. “This is a hallmark of Russian killers — to destroy life by all means at their disposal.”

Noting that anti-personnel mines “often have no alternative as a tool of defence”, Zelensky said Ukraine had taken this “political step” to send a signal to its partners, particularly those that share a border with Russia.

Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2005, joining more than 160 countries in committing to eliminate anti-personnel mines. However, the shifting security landscape has already led several of Ukraine’s European neighbours to either abandon or reconsider their commitments. Finland, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have all distanced themselves from the convention in recent months, citing escalating threats from Moscow.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had earlier provided detailed reasoning for Ukraine’s exit, underscoring the need for unrestricted use of all available defence tools in the face of Russian aggression.

The announcement came just hours after Ukraine endured what officials described as the single largest aerial assault since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched a barrage of 537 aerial weapons overnight on Saturday — including 477 drones and decoys, and 60 missiles — in what was described as “the most massive airstrike” since the beginning of the war. Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down 475 of the projectiles, but at least five civilians were killed in the bombardment and accompanying shelling.

Among the casualties was Ukrainian F-16 pilot Maksym Ustymenko, who died while repelling the attack. Zelensky posthumously awarded Ustymenko the title of Hero of Ukraine — the nation’s highest honour.