Russian Troop Commander Praises The Capability Of Zemledeliye Mine Dispersal Vehicles On Ukraine's Battlefield

Russian Zemledeliye mine spreading vehicle. (Source: Russian Ministry of Defense via TASS)

JAKARTA - The existence of a minefield created by the Russian military is said to have hampered the progress of the Ukrainian army on the battlefield, especially in retaliatory attacks that were launched several months ago.

One of the defense equipment that supports the deployment of mines in a sophisticated, effective and fast manner on the battlefield, Russia uses Zemledeliye. Russian military officials Colonel Rustam Saifullin said the remotely controlled Zemledeliye had no rivals in the world.

Colonel Saifullin led the 40th Technical Regiment from the 41st Joint Army in a Russian special military operation in Ukraine. During the war there, he had been injured twice. He also has the title 'Hero of Russia'.

"The mine deployment system is very good and proven to be remotely controlled, Zemledeliye, which can spread minefields at very far distances," he explained, launching TASS October 25.

"This system is capable of placing anti-personnel mines, anti-tanks, or mixed mines, thus preventing enemy forward movement or thwarting its maneuvers. This remotely controlled system has no rivals in any other country in the world," Colonel Saifullin claims.

The Zemledeliye mine-spreading vehicle has a dual launch rocket system principle, but uses ammunition with a solid propellant engine filled with various types of mines to lay mines.

In the process of deploying mines, the digital terrain map of vehicles marks the coordinates of the mine area which is then sent to a higher level of command and control.

The Zemledeliye mine-spreading vehicle consists of launchers, a series of ammunition consisting of 50 122 mm ammunition filled with anti-personnel mines or high explosive anti-tanks, to transport-loading vehicles with loading cranes on the back.

The vehicle is mounted on an eight-wheeled Kamaz-6560 truck and equipped with an armored driver cabin. The rockets are placed in containers loaded into special packages each containing 25 ammunition.

Each Zemledeliye vehicle carries two such packages. The launch is equipped with communications, fire control systems, meteorological sensors, and defense equipment consisting of six launchers of smoke grenades, with three launchers on each side.

It is known that the Russian Ministry of Defense and defense company SPLav based in Tula signed a contract for the delivery of long-range mine spreading vehicles Zemledeliye to Russian troops in December 2013.

Russia launched Zemledeliye in a military parade on Moscow's Red Square on the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War in 2020.