Direct proof of use
Human Rights Watch listed the MON-90 among antipersonnel mines used by Russian forces in Ukraine after February 24, 2022. The same listing describes MON-series mines as hand-emplaced directional fragmentation mines that can be initiated by tripwire or command detonation.
The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor's Russian Federation profile also lists MON-90 in the group of MON-series antipersonnel mines used by Russian forces in Ukraine. A separate State Emergency Service of Ukraine media record, preserved on Wikimedia Commons, documents disposal of a MON-90 found in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, after Russian occupation.
Sources: Landmine Use in Ukraine, Russian Federation Mine Ban Policy, Disposal of MON-90 Anti-Personnel Mine
Timeline
On April 10, 2022, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine published footage identified as disposal of a MON-90 antipersonnel mine disguised as a shopping bag in Irpin after Russian occupation.
In June 2023, Human Rights Watch published a Ukraine landmine-use assessment that listed MON-90 among antipersonnel mines used by Russian forces after the full-scale invasion. GICHD's third edition of its Ukraine explosive ordnance guide, published in February 2025, retained MON-90 in its Ukraine recognition material and noted reports of MON-50 and MON-90 mines found with anti-handling devices or protected by keeper antipersonnel blast mines.
Sources: Disposal of MON-90 Anti-Personnel Mine, Landmine Use in Ukraine, Explosive Ordnance Guide for Ukraine, Third Edition
Role in the conflict
The documented MON-90 role in Ukraine is area denial and antipersonnel mine warfare by Russian forces. The available public sources support presence and use of the mine type in Ukraine, including recovery and disposal context, but they do not establish a complete count of MON-90 mines, a full emplacement map, or every unit involved.
The record should be read separately from wider landmine contamination in Ukraine. Monitoring organizations describe many Russian and Ukrainian landmine types in the war; the MON-90-specific claim here is limited to the Russian MON-series directional antipersonnel mine evidence cited in the source set.
Sources: Landmine Use in Ukraine, Russian Federation Mine Ban Policy, Explosive Ordnance Guide for Ukraine, Third Edition
